


Sunshine and Sea Air - Volume 2: To Love and Be Loved

by dS_Tiff



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Family, Foster Care, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dS_Tiff/pseuds/dS_Tiff
Summary: Their love thrives, but Paige and Walter still have a few obstacles to overcome. Meanwhile Toby and Happy prepare for the birth of their baby and the rest of the team face challenges of their own. But Team Scorpion are stronger now than they've ever been.





	1. Safe and Secure

**Author's Note:**

> _This is Volume 2 of the 'Sunshine and Sea Air' series, continuing the story of Scorpion post-reconciliation. I know I've kept you waiting a while for this, I hope it's been worth the wait! I really appreciate comments, thank you kindly!_

“Happy Two-Month Anniversary, Walter.”

The sound of Page's voice together with the sensation of her lips against his brought Walter out of his sleep. His eyes flickered open and he couldn't help smiling at the sight that greeted him - Paige in bed next to him. In _their_ bed. 

Naked.

It was his favourite way to wake up. 

Then Paige's words slowly began to register in his half-asleep mind and Walter's face fell into a confused frown.

“Huh?” he mumbled, rolling onto his side to face her. 

“It's been two months since we moved into our own home,” Paige explained, rolling her eyes as if she was annoyed that he hadn't understood. 

But she wasn't really annoyed with him. She loved him too much for that and she'd learnt the hard way the dangers of allowing silly, unimportant things to annoy her. 

Paige shuddered as she thought about how she'd almost lost him - almost lost everything - because of her habit of overreacting. But that was almost a year and a half ago now - it felt like a lifetime.

“Oh, I see,” said Walter, pushing himself up onto his elbow. “Should I... should I have got you something?” he added with a worried look.

Paige laughed. “No, silly,” she responded. “Just being here with you is enough.” 

Then a pang of doubt hit her. “You are... happy. Aren't you?” she asked. “Living here with me, I mean,” she added. “You... you wouldn't prefer to be living back at the garage?”

Their new place was everything Paige had ever dreamed of in family home. She had never been happier and most of the time she thought Walter felt the same, but then occasionally the old familiar feelings of insecurity would come back and her mind would be flooded with doubt.

Walter had learned to expect it now, though and better still, he knew what to do. He understood what she needed from him.

He took her left hand in his, looked into her eyes and spoke in a warm, reassuring voice that Toby had helped him perfect. 

“Paige, I love you,” he began. “And this is our home now. The garage will always be the Scorpion family home - our cyclone needs a home too - but this place is our home. You, me, Ralph plus any members of our family we add through successful procreation.”

Paige giggled. “Successful procreation – is that what we’re calling it now?”

“We will, when we’re successful,” replied Walter. “Talking of which, have you taken a test yet this month?”

Paige pressed her lips together and turned away from him. “No, it’s too early,” she replied, abruptly.

Walter frowned. “But modern home pregnancy tests are ninety seven per cent accurate up to four days prior to…”

“It’s too early!” she snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence with her forceful repetition. Then she let out a slow breath and forced a smile onto her lips. “Sorry,” she apologised. “But there’s no rush and I don’t want to risk a false positive. You remember how much heartache that caused for Happy and Toby, right?”

“Of course,” replied Walter. “B... b… but that was over three years ago and…”

“Walter, I’ll do it when I’m ready, OK?”

Walter nodded, puzzled as to why she felt she wasn’t ‘ready’ now. They had only been trying to get pregnant for a few weeks, it was early days so he wasn’t worried that they hadn’t been successful yet. He now assumed Paige _was_ worried, though.

“I’m sure it’s too early to be concerned about… about fertility issues,” he began. “However, if you wish, we can…”

“No, it’s not that,” Paige insisted. “Look, it’s nothing. Now come on, get that naked butt of yours out of bed. Allie and Cabe are bringing Rosa to the garage later. We only met her briefly the other day. They’re going to be her foster parents for the next few weeks so that makes us her foster family. I think we should take the time to get to know her.”

“Hmmm,” agreed Walter, but his mind wasn’t on Cabe and Allie’s new ward, it was firmly on Paige. 

Walter knew she wanted another baby as badly as he did, but now he was wondering if they should have waited a little while longer before they started trying. Paige had been badly affected by the events surrounding their temporary split and even now, a year and a half on from that terrible time, she was still seeing Toby on a semi-professional basis to help her make sense of what happened and cope with the aftermath. Right now Walter was the happiest he’d ever been in his life and Paige had told him many times that she was too, but he couldn’t help but worry that her insecurities might manifest themselves again one day. 

All he could do was make her feel as safe and secure as possible and he put every ounce of his being into doing exactly that every day. He just hoped it was enough. He knew he couldn’t bear it if he ever lost her, or Ralph. They were his world.

“Walter!” exclaimed Paige, standing on one leg as she pulled on a pair of panties. “Move!”

Walter got out of bed and walked over to her. Without warning he pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “I love you,” he said.

Paige gasped before wrapping her arms around him. “I love you too,” she replied, taking a moment to relish the warm feelings of reassurance that came in moments like this. “Now hurry up!”

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Sugarplum, should you be doing that?” Toby snatched the hammer out of his wife’s hand and placed it down on the workbench.

On the other side of the garage, Sylvester winced and buried his head in a book in anticipation of Happy’s response. He was right to brace himself.

“I’m pregnant, I’m not an invalid!” Happy exploded, slamming her hands on the bench before picking up the hammer again and waving it in front of Toby’s face. 

“Thirty five weeks pregnant,” Toby reminded her, in a patronising tone.

“Really?” replied Happy sarcastically. She looked down at her enormous belly and spread her arms wide. “I wondered what this was!” 

“I just think you should be taking it easy as we wait for the pitter-patter of tiny Quintis feet,” said Toby, calmly.

Happy glared at him. “I’m trying to hammer out the dent you put in the side of the coffee machine,” she replied, through gritted teeth. 

“That was an accident…” Toby began, but Happy wasn’t about to let him distract her from her rant. 

“I don’t remember anything about hammering in any of those dumb pregnancy manuals you made me read!” she continued. Then she drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing she had no need to be so angry. “Listen to me, Doc,” she said, her voice now several decibels lower. “I know you’re worried about me and our baby, but I promise you, we’re both fine.”

Toby let out a sigh too and took her hand in his. “I’m sorry, I know my fussing annoys the hell outta you…”

“Just a little.” 

Toby smiled at her deliberate understatement. “But now the head’s engaged and we’re so close and… and I can’t help it. I want to wrap you both up in blankets and protect you from… well, from everything.”

Happy smiled back at him. “I know you do, you big doofus,” she said. “But these last few weeks feel like they’ve dragged on forever and I just gotta do stuff to take my mind off it, or I’ll go crazy. So you’ve gotta let me. I promise I won’t go out on the bike, or go bungee jumping.”

“OK,” replied Toby, leaning in to capture her lips in a tender kiss. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything,” he added. “It’s taken us so long to get this far and I don’t want anything to…” but the words caught in his throat and he couldn’t finish his sentence. 

Happy kissed him again. “I know,” she said quietly.

Neither Happy, nor Toby could quite believe they were actually going to have a baby. After almost a year of fertility treatment they’d decided to adopt instead of having a biological child of their own and were now the proud parents of adorable twin girls. Then this pregnancy had come out of the blue and they were soon to be a family of five and if they thought about it too hard it was overwhelming.

Just then the familiar sight of Cabe’s SUV pulling into the garage broke them from their thoughts.

“Hey, geniuses,” grinned Cabe, getting out of the car. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and looked more relaxed than anyone had seen him in a long time.

Sylvester walked over to join them as Allie got out of the other side of the car and Cabe opened the back door to help Rosa, their first foster child, out of the vehicle too.

“No Paige and Walter, yet?” asked Allie as the three of them crossed the garage.

“Nope,” answered Happy.

Allie turned to Sylvester. “Any word from Kimberley?” she asked, patting his arm gently.

Kimberley was Sylvester’s girlfriend of barely two months. Their relationship had been going from strength to strength, but then her mother’s ongoing illness had taken a turn for the worse and Kimberley and her sister had gone to stay with her. Sylvester missed her more than he ever thought possible.

“Not today,” replied Sylvester. “I spoke to her yesterday, though. The prognosis isn’t good. I wish I could fly up there and be with her, but she insisted I should stay here.”

“You’ve got the election coming up,” noted Allie. 

“I know,” nodded Sylvester. “And I’m up to my eyes in that legal case I took on, but… but I should be with her. I want to be with her.”

“I’m sure Kimberley knows that, but she and her sister have each other for support,” Allie pointed out. “Meanwhile your client is relying on you to keep him out of jail.” 

“I hope he has a Plan B,” said Toby, dryly.

Happy rewarded his facetiousness with a slap on the back of the head. “Ignore him, Sly,” she said.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” insisted Toby. Then he turned his attentions to the little girl who was still clutching Allie’s hand tightly. “Hey, Rosa,” he began, with a warm smile. “How are you settling in?”

Rosa stared at him with wide eyes, but didn’t reply. Cabe placed an encouraging hand on the little girl’s shoulder, but she remained silent.

“I think we’re doing fine,” Allie replied on Rosa’s behalf. She glanced at Toby with concern and Toby responded with a small nod. 

He crouched on one knee to get down to Rosa’s eye level. She was shorter than average for a ten year old and right now she seemed much more nervous and shy than she had been five days ago when she’d first been introduced to the team. Her dark eyes locked with his and he took off his hat and dropped it onto her head.

“Takes a while to get used to being away from home, doesn’t it,” he offered. “And you’re missing your Mom. It’s OK to feel sad, y’know.”

Rosa nodded. Allie had plaited her tightly curled hair into two neat braids and they swung past her ears as she moved her head.

“I’ve got an idea,” said Toby with a smile. “Why don’t you go play Proton Arnold with Sly?”

“Sure!” added Sylvester with a huge, friendly grin. “Come on, I’ll show you the secret level.” He held out his hand for Rosa and the little girl reached out to him.

“Oh, wait,” said Toby. He leaned forward, brushing his hand against her earlobe and ‘magically’ producing a coin. He held it between his thumb and forefinger in front of her startled face. “You’ll need this,” he said with a wink.

The corners of Rosa’s lips twitched into a smile and she took the coin in one hand and slipped her other hand into Sylvester’s and Toby barely had time to reclaim his hat before she skipped over to the arcade machine with Sylvester.

“We had a call from the hospital this morning,” explained Cabe in a low voice. “Rosa’s mom had to go back into surgery yesterday. Nothing too serious, I don’t think, but it’s set back her recovery by another couple weeks.” 

“Spinal surgery’s a tricky game,” acknowledged Toby. “And recovery is always a slow process.”

“Poor kid’s been quiet ever since we told her,” continued Cabe. “I guess she’s doesn’t want to spend an extra two weeks with us.”

Happy frowned. “Any kid should be grateful to have you guys as foster parents,” she said.

“You might wanna cut the kid some slack, Lovebug,” suggested Toby, gingerly. “She’s ten. It’s not that she’s ungrateful, she’s just scared. Her Mom’s in the hospital and she’s got to live with total strangers for a while, it’s not easy. I think she’ll be OK, she just needs a little more time to adjust.”

“We don’t really know what else to say to her,” said Allie, sadly. “We talked to her, tried to reassure her, but she’s shutting us out.”

“Sounds like you’re doing all the right things,” smiled Toby and Allie smiled back, grateful for the endorsement.

“I might go see if she’s winning on that game,” said Cabe and he walked off to join Sylvester and Rosa.

Allie watched him go, her heart skipping a beat as he strode across the garage.

Toby punched her playfully on the arm. “Seems the whole parenting thing agrees with Cabe,” he said.

“He’s a natural,” Allie replied with a smile. “He’s so good with her and he really cares about her. We both do. It feels so odd – we’ve only known her for a week – but I’d do anything to keep her safe. I know I keep saying it, but thank you for everything you’ve done for him lately. I know talking to you about losing Amanda hasn’t been easy for him, but whatever you did has helped him so much.”

“Don’t tell him I said this,” began Toby. “But that grumpy old guy’s been more like a Dad to me these past few years than my old man ever was. I’m just glad I can do something for him in return.”

Just then Walter and Paige arrived in Paige’s car.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Paige, grabbing her bag from the back seat.

Toby glanced at the clock on the wall. “Been working on Operation Baby Waige, have we?” he offered with a wink.

“’Waige’ is a dumb name,” retorted Happy. 

“I’ll admit, it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as ‘Quintis’…” began Toby.

“And we’re all in our thirties, not teenagers,” noted Happy, rolling her eyes.

“Darlin’, all the best couples have couple names these days,” replied Toby, folding his arms across his chest defiantly. 

“If I remember correctly,” began Happy. “You cited Brangelina as a prime example the day you came up with ‘Quintis’ and look what happened to them.”

Toby shook his head, but he was smiling inwardly. He knew that Happy secretly loved that they had a couple name, even though she would never admit it.

As Paige and Allie began to talk about Rosa, Walter grabbed Toby by the arm and dragged him away from them.

“I need your professional opinion,” he began.

“Sure,” replied Toby. “You know my regular fees, but I’ll cut you a deal - ten per cent discount for my bestest buddy.”

Walter frowned at him. “I’ll just talk to someone else,” he replied and turned away.

“I jest, One Ninety Seven,” replied Toby, throwing his arm around Walter’s shoulders. “How can I help?”

Walter sighed and turned back. “It’s Paige,” he said. “She deliberately avoided taking a pregnancy test this morning.”

“I see,” replied Toby, knowingly.

“She took one last month. Two, in fact,” continued Walter. “D…d…do you think she’s having second thoughts about having a child with me?”

“No,” Toby answered without hesitation. “Definitely not. She’s more than ready to join my beautiful wife in the Pudding Club.”

“Then why is she behaving this way?”

“Because… because she’s Paige Dineen.”

“That’s not an explanation, Toby.”

Toby shrugged. “She’s got some niggling doubts, that’s all.”

“About us?”

“Nope,” replied Toby. “I promise you Paige is one hundred per cent committed to your relationship, Walt and she’s madly in love with you. And she’s got her heart set on having your babies, that’s the problem.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“If she doesn’t get pregnant, she’s gonna be devastated,” Toby explained. “Not so much for herself, but for you. She’ll feel like she’s let you down if she can’t spread your genius genes into the wider human population. You need to talk to her.”

“I do, frequently,” insisted Walter. “I’ve learnt so much since… since… y’know… and now we share our feelings and our concerns about any number of things and… and it really helps. Why hasn’t she talked to me about this?”

“Because she knows it’s dumb to be stressing out over it this early in the game,” explained Toby. “And she knows being stressed doesn’t help her chances of getting pregnant. I prescribe a dirty weekend away. Just the two of you getting down to some good old fashioned bedroom business. Get your timing right, hit a few home runs and she’ll be in the family way quicker than you can say… ‘in the family way’.”

Walter frowned at him. “I’m not sure playing baseball would be conducive to conceiving a child.”

Toby opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment about Drew, but thought better of it. “Just book a hotel room,” he said. “A nice one, Walter, dust the cobwebs off your savings account. It’ll work, trust me.”

At that moment Paige walked over to join them. “And what are you boys talking about?” she asked, suspiciously.

“Nothing,” replied Walter, quickly. “I mean, something, but… I can’t tell you what it is yet. I have work to do, I’ll be in the loft.” And before Paige could reply he was half way up the ramp.

Paige looked at Toby for an explanation, but he just shrugged. 

“So much for spending time with Rosa today,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Allie told me she’s been a little quiet. I really feel for her. It’s kinda funny seeing Cabe and Allie parenting a kid, though. I mean, Cabe’s been parenting you geniuses for years, but this is different.”

Toby chuckled. “Look at all of us, all coupled up with kids. Whatever happened to my carefree youth?”

“Your youth wasn’t carefree,” Paige pointed out. “Your youth was spent racking up debts in dodgy gambling dens.”

Toby thought for a moment. “You have a good point,” he admitted. “Anyway, just Sly and Kimmy to go and we’ll need to open a Scorpion crèche!”

“Where are your girls today?” asked Paige.

“Patrick has them,” Toby explained. “He’s taking them to the zoo. Again. He should take out shares in that place, but they love it there. Stella can’t stop talking about the ‘gillers’ and the ‘jraffs’.”

Paige smiled. “Last time I babysat, Caitlin told me all about the baby ‘elewant’ she saw there and how Mommy has a baby ‘elewant’ in her tummy too.”

“Hmmm,” replied Toby, with a chuckle. “Maybe we need to explain the whole baby thing again.”

Just then there was a loud cheer from the other side of the garage and they turned round to see Cabe hoisting Rosa triumphantly onto his shoulder.

Toby, Paige, Allie and Happy all quickly walked over to join them by the Proton Arnold game. 

“What are we celebrating?” asked Happy, massaging her aching back as she spoke.

“Rosa got on the leader-board!” exclaimed Cabe, proudly.

“Sly helped me,” explained Rosa.

Sylvester blushed. “That’s what friends are for,” he replied.

Allie was delighted to hear Rosa speaking, those were the first words she’d said all day. “Thank you, Sylvester,” she said, smiling warmly at him.

Sylvester was about to reply when the sound of Cabe’s phone ringing distracted him.

“Who the heck’s that?” asked Cabe, passing Rosa into Toby’s waiting arms before pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans.

“I know, why don’t you answer it and find out?” suggested Toby, sarcastically. He swung Rosa upside down and she squealed with delight.

Cabe sneered and stared at his phone screen with a frown. “It’s Katherine,” he explained. “She knows I’m on parental leave, why’s she calling me?”

“I respectfully refer you to my previous suggestion,” said Toby, raising his eyebrows in a taunting gesture.

Cabe glared at him and walked off towards the kitchen as he answered the call.

Allie sighed. “I hope they don’t make him go back to work early,” she said. “He’s been so much more relaxed since he’s been on leave.”

“Retirement would look good on him,” Toby pointed out as he sat himself cross-legged on the floor and pulled a pack of playing cards from his back pocket as Rosa sat down opposite him.

“I don’t think he’ll ever retire,” replied Allie, joining them on the floor. “But I’m not looking forward to him going back to Homeland. I…” she paused, glancing at Rosa before continuing in a low voice. “I worry about him. I worry about all of you, of course, but Cabe… I just wish he’d cut back on the dangerous cases.”

“Hey, I worry about all of us too,” noted Toby, successfully managing to engage in conversation with Allie while simultaneously distracting Rosa with a card trick. “Sometimes I long for the good old days of installing wi-fi into diners. Y’know, before we got involved with worldwide threats, criminal masterminds and exploding things.”

Just then Cabe’s voice rang out and everyone took notice. “Gather round, team, we’ve got a case!”


	2. Unexpected Guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the team discover the details of their new case, Paige is blindsided by a surprise visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you so much for all of your kind comments so far, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter of this new story. I hope you enjoy this update, I'd really appreciate you letting me know._

“A case?” 

Everyone looked up at the sound of Walter’s voice as he ran down the stairs to join them.

“Thought you were on leave?” offered Happy as the team assembled around Cabe.

“I am,” Cabe confirmed. “This isn’t exactly an official case, it’s a personal request from Cooper. I’ve already said I’d help, but if you guys decide you don’t want in on this one, I’ll understand.”

Sylvester nervously raised his hand. “Why don’t I like the sound of this?” he asked.

“Because,” began Cabe. “Because we’ll be going up against Homeland. Katherine’s been suspended from duty.”

“What?” exclaimed Paige. 

Walter frowned. “But she’s only been in post for a few months.”

“I know,” agreed Cabe with a nod. “And she’s the best Director we’ve ever had at Homeland, but now she’s on suspension pending an investigation into what they’re calling ‘suspicious intercommunication with non-approved territories.’”

Toby’s eyes widened. “Spying?” he said in surprise. “Oooh, Cooper’s been a naughty girl.”

“Katherine’s no spy,” insisted Cabe. “And she needs our help to clear her name.”

Toby folded his arms across his chest. “But Homeland write our best pay checks,” he pointed out. “Or did I miss a memo?”

Sylvester raised his hand again. “I’ve decided,” he said. “I’m _not_ in. I’m not going nose to nose with Homeland. What if Cooper’s guilty and we’re sent down for assisting her? You do know the maximum penalty for treason in California is execution, right?”

“Treason?” grinned Toby. “I’ve always wanted to commit an eighteenth century crime, but maybe we should ease ourselves in gently by robbing a stagecoach first?”

“Shut it, Doc,” snarled Cabe. “Katherine’s on her way here now to fill us in on the details. Like I said, you guys can stay out of it if you wish.”

“I think we should help,” said Paige. “Katherine’s always been one of our biggest supporters, not to mention pulling us out of more dangerous situations than I care to count over the years.”

“True,” agreed Happy. “But she also abandoned us in Kazakhstan that time,” she reminded them. “She only puts her butt on the line for us if it makes her look good.”

“Oh, Darlin’,” said Toby, patting her shoulder affectionately. “Third trimester pregnancy hormones have made you so cynical!”

“What about you, Walt?” asked Cabe. “Any thoughts?”

“I’m reserving judgement,” replied Walter. “I’d prefer to make a fully informed decision.”

“But what does your gut tell you?” Cabe asked. “You don’t really think she’s guilty of espionage?”

Before Walter could answer, there was a knock at the door.

Cabe glanced at his watch. “Cooper got here quick,” he said with a puzzled frown, but his expression quickly changed to one of astonishment when he realised it wasn’t Katherine Cooper at the door at all. 

“Veronica?” 

Cabe couldn’t quite believe his eyes when he realised the woman who had gingerly entered the garage was Paige’s mother.

Paige’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Mom! What the hell are you doing here?”

Veronica Dineen snatched the curly brown wig from her head and threw it on the floor. “So much for my disguise,” she said. Then her smile grew into a broad grin. “Paige,” she said, striding across the garage to greet her daughter. “I’ve missed you so much!” And she pulled a startled Paige into a huge hug.

Toby and Happy exchanged a bewildered glance. Veronica Dineen had – with the help of Team Scorpion – faked her own death almost three years ago to avoid being killed by a gang of arms dealers she owed money too. Since then she’d been living under a fake name, unable to contact her daughter for fear of being discovered – although Ralph had since admitted to the other geniuses he regularly exchanged messages with his grandmother using an encrypted email account, making them promise not to tell Paige. 

Now she was, apparently, back and Toby and Happy couldn’t help but wonder why she had chosen to risk being discovered now.

Walter stepped forward as Paige broke away from her mother’s clutches. “It’s good to see you again,” he said, extending his hand for a handshake.

Veronica took his hand, but before Walter could stop her she had thrown her arms around him. “And you, Walter,” she said. “Congratulations on winning the affections of my daughter. You and Paige are perfect for each other, I always knew you’d get her back from that Tim fellow.”

Sylvester winced at the mention of Tim Armstrong, glancing nervously at Walter to see if he’d react, but he didn’t.

The old Walter might well have launched into an unnecessary diatribe about how the former Homeland trainee had no redeeming qualities and that his initial assessment of the ex-Navy SEAL had been vindicated, but they’d all moved on since then and now Walter knew better than to drag up the past and risk a defensive rebuttal from Paige.

Paige wasn’t at all bothered by Veronica mentioning Tim, but she didn’t like the way her Mom was talking about her. “I’m not a prize in a contest!” she exclaimed, but she stopped herself before she could say anymore. She let out a slow breath, annoyed at how quickly Veronica had been able to get under her skin. 

“Oh Paige,” replied Veronica, rolling her eyes. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. Boy, I’d almost forgotten how touchy you can be!”

Paige had a complicated relationship with her mother. A year and a half ago, after she and Walter’s relationship had imploded and the team had fallen apart in such spectacular fashion, Paige had come to realise that her whole life had been deeply affected by Veronica’s behaviour. Having a mother who disappeared for months, or even years at a time throughout her childhood had left Paige with deep rooted abandonment issues that she was only just beginning to overcome. 

After cutting all ties with her mother for so many years, she had unexpectedly walked back into Paige’s life three years ago, expecting Paige to accept her apologies and have a normal mother/daughter relationship as if nothing had ever happened, but it hadn’t been that easy for Paige. Then Veronica had been forced to leave again and Paige had made peace with the fact that she wasn’t going to see her again for a long time, if ever.

But now she was back again, with no explanation and Paige wasn’t sure how she felt. She wasn’t sure at all. 

“Paige?”

It was Walter’s voice, accompanied by a gentle touch to her arm. Paige did her best not to gasp as she was pulled away from her thoughts.

“What?” she snapped. “Oh, um, sorry, I was…” she trailed off and almost subconsciously glanced over at Toby. 

Toby immediately recognised the look on her face. It meant _‘I know I need to talk about this, but I don’t want to so don’t you dare try to make me’_. Toby had seen that look many times, but he always dared anyway and he immediately began planning what he was going to say to Paige. 

“Is the trailer still vacant?” asked Veronica, seemingly oblivious to the torment she’d caused her daughter by her unexpected reappearance. “Just until I can organise something more permanent.”

“Permanent?” repeated Paige incredulously. “How long are you staying for? What about those guys who want to kill you?”

“I heard they were long gone,” replied Veronica, dismissively. “Either dead, or in prison. I don’t think they care about little old me anymore. So, Walter, the trailer?”

Walter glanced awkwardly at Paige. He could tell she was upset and he didn’t want to make things worse, but at the same time he couldn’t say no to Veronica. To his relief Paige gave him a little nod.

“Yes, of course,” he finally replied. “It’s available. May need a little spring clean, though.”

“Thank you,” smiled Veronica. 

“Wait a second,” said Happy, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “If you don’t think anyone’s after you, why the wig?”

Veronica shrugged. “Old habits,” she replied. Then she noticed Allie and Rosa had joined them. “You must be Allie!” she said with a beaming smile, grateful for the opportunity to change the subject. “I knew someone would snap up Cabe sooner, or later,” she added with a wink. “I’m Paige’s Mom, you’ve probably heard all about me.”

Allie smiled back at her. “Yes, well, a little,” she replied. The truth was she’d never heard Paige talk about her mother at all and Cabe had only mentioned her once when he’d told her about the way they’d faked Veronica’s death. “This is Rosa,” she added. “She’s staying with us for a few weeks.”

“Lovely!” replied Veronica. She paused and looked around the garage, taking a moment to realise very little had changed since she’d last been here.

Toby watched her like a hawk. Veronica was one of the few people in the world who could pull the wool over his highly trained, genius eyes, but unlike Mark Collins, she didn’t scare him, she fascinated him. He had so many questions, but getting answers from Veronica Dineen was always a challenge. Toby loved a challenge though.

Why was Veronica here? Why hadn’t she called ahead, or at least told Ralph she was planning a visit? Why was she acting this way? She was giving him so many confusing markers, using her con-artist skills to good effect just as she always did, but something was different this time. Something was definitely going on and he was determined to get to the bottom of it before Paige got hurt again.

Allie looked at Paige, immediately sensing the awkwardness in the room. “Why don’t we help you settle into the Airstream?” she offered, looking back to Veronica. “Like Walter said, it needs a little tidying. We haven’t had a guest for a while.”

The last person to stay there had been Ray a few months ago when he’d done his old trick of turning up out of the blue and inviting himself to stay for a few days… a few days that had turned into five weeks. 

Allie glanced back at Paige and Paige acknowledged her with a grateful nod as the older woman led her mother away and they disappeared inside the trailer with Rosa.

“Well,” said Sylvester. “That was… um… uncomfortable.”

“No it wasn’t?” replied Paige, haughtily. “I’m just surprised to see her. I’m not uncomfortable, I’m fine, everything’s fine. Now can we get back to this situation with Katherine, please?”

“The lady doth protest too much,” muttered Toby.

“Ssshh,” hissed Happy. “We don’t need Paige freaking out right now. Drop it.”

“OK, OK,” replied Toby, but had no intention of dropping it. It would have to wait for later, though.

A few minutes later, Katherine Cooper, Director of Homeland Security – albeit currently suspended – arrived at the garage and she began to give them more details of her predicament.

“It came out of nowhere,” she explained as Paige handed her a cup of strong, black coffee. “I was pulled out of my office and interrogated. They gave me names, photographs, all this so-called proof that I’m some kind of spy.”

Katherine was more flustered than anyone had ever seen her before. She was wearing casual clothes – jeans and a yellow, striped shirt – and she wore very little make-up.

“Don’t worry,” replied Cabe. “I already told you I’d help.” He was more worried about her than he had expected to be after their brief phone call earlier. 

“We’ll do everything we can,” added Walter, reassuringly.

“Wait!” exclaimed Sylvester. “I… I… can we discuss this, please?”

“It’s OK,” said Katherine. “I understand. I don’t expect you all to risk everything for me.”

Happy stepped forward. “Look, I’m pregnant,” she said, not that she needed to point it out. “And the Doc and me already have two daughters. Cabe and Allie are fostering now and Walt and Paige have Ralph and… well, they’re tight. Even Sly’s all loved up now. We can’t afford to take risks like we used to, but at the same time we’re not gonna stand back and watch an innocent person go down for something they didn’t do. So you’ve gotta promise me you’re innocent.”

“I promise,” replied Katherine, earnestly.

Happy turned to Toby. “Doc?” she said in an enquiring tone. 

Toby took a deep breath before replying. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

“You _think_?” repeated Happy.

“She’s Homeland,” replied Toby with a shrug. “They’re trained liars, so they don’t give away secrets easily – just in case they get kidnapped, right, Cooper?”

Katherine glared at him, but Toby wasn’t finished yet.

“For all I know she’s been in bed with the Russians for months,” he continued. “Or the Chinese, or who knows who else? Could be a superspy, could be a sleeper agent, who knows?”

Katherine got to her feet. “I came here because I have nowhere else to turn to,” she said, clenching her fists at her side. “I need your help. I’m telling you the truth,” she insisted.

Tony nodded and smiled. “I know you are,” he said. “At least, I do now.” He’d deliberately pushed her buttons to invoke a more emotional response, one that he could be sure of and it had worked. Then his face became more serious. “And I know you’re scared,” he added, gently. “I’m with Walt and Cabe on this. I say we help.”

“Then I’m in too,” added Happy. 

“And me,” agreed Paige. “Sly?” she turned to face him, raising her eyebrows as she spoke his name.

Sylvester sighed. “Fine, I’ll help,” he said. He could never say no to Paige, not when she had that look on her face.

Toby raised his hand in Sylvester’s direction, but Sylvester refused to high-five him. “Come on, pal,” said Toby. “Risking the death penalty might take your mind off missing Kimberley?” he added, facetiously.

Sylvester glared at him. “Not helpful, Toby.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Come to bed, Paige.”

Paige sighed. “Mmmm… in a minute,” she replied, but she didn’t turn to face Walter. 

Instead she sat at her new dressing table, brushing her hair slowly. 

And thinking. 

She’d been doing a lot of thinking ever since Veronica had arrived that morning. Paige had made lunch for everyone - even Katherine had accepted her invitation to stay – and the afternoon had been spent gathering information about the full extent of the trouble the Director of Homeland was in. 

Now Veronica was sleeping in the trailer at the garage and still Paige had no idea why she’d suddenly reappeared after all this time. She didn’t buy her Mom’s excuse that she missed her and Ralph – it had never bothered her all those years before when Paige had been a struggling single Mom. 

Paige didn’t believe her reasoning that it was safe to come out of hiding – Veronica had no proof the guys who had been after her were dead so there was every possibility they were still out there somewhere and even though they believed Veronica was dead, there’s no way they’d be prepared to let bygones be bygones if they suddenly discovered she was alive after all.

So why was she here? Why now?

“Paige…”

“What? Oh, sorry.”

Paige finally put down her hairbrush and climbed into bed next to Walter. She snuggled against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Is everything… I mean, are you… that is…” Walter wanted to comfort her – she was clearly upset – but he couldn’t find the words.

Paige smiled against his bare skin. “I’m fine,” she lied. “It’s just weird seeing Mom again, that’s all.”

“You were quiet all afternoon,” Walter pointed out. “But Veronica was… well, she was quite vocal.”

“Yeah and now Katherine knows everything about my childhood,” replied Paige. “I guess she was glad of the distraction. She’s going through hell with all this spying business.”

Veronica had talked virtually non-stop, mostly about her crazy life including the various times she’d spent in jail, much to Katherine’s surprise. Paige hadn’t been able to hide her embarrassment as their Homeland boss discovered everything about her mother’s criminal past, but Katherine had seemed genuinely interested and non-judgemental about it all. 

“Cabe and Toby reported nothing unusual after their visit to Homeland,” noted Walter. 

After lunch, Cabe and Toby had called into Homeland HQ on the pretence that Cabe had left something on his desk. Their real intention, of course, was to chat informally with some of Cabe’s colleagues to see how much they knew about the reason for Katherine’s suspension. 

“Toby insists everyone they spoke to was telling the truth,” continued Walter. “So either the conspiracy runs much deeper than we imagined, or Katherine Cooper is guilty of espionage.”

Paige pushed herself up onto her elbow and looked down at Walter. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“No, but until we have proof one way or the other, what I believe is irrelevant.”

“I get why Sly’s freaking out,” said Paige. “We’re taking a huge risk here. If we get pulled into some kind of international incident we could be in big trouble. Maybe we should have discussed it before agreeing to help out?”

“I thought you wanted to help?” replied Walter.

“I do… I did… I just…” Paige sighed. “That was before I’d really thought about it. I’m not saying we should just turn our backs on Katherine – I believe she’s innocent, I really do – but I don’t think I’d really acknowledged what we were getting ourselves into. Happy’s having a baby in a few weeks and I guess we all have so much going on right now, getting ourselves in trouble is the last thing we all need.”

“We’ll discuss it with the team tomorrow,” agreed Walter.

Paige flopped back down onto the pillow. “Why did she come back?” she asked with a sigh.

“To clear her name,” replied Walter, with a puzzled frown.

“Not Katherine,” clarified Paige. “I meant my mother. Why now?”

“She said she’s been missing you.”

“I know what she said,” snapped Paige, more harshly than she’d intended. “But we all know what my Mom lies for a living. Even Toby can’t always see through her. She’s never missed me before, my whole life since Dad died she’s never missed me – at least, not enough to bother looking for me – so why now? When we ran into each other three years ago, it was pure chance. She saw an opportunity to mess with my life again and she took it.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Don’t you? Well I do and she’s _my_ Mom, so I get to decide what’s fair and what isn’t.”

Walter was taken aback by the ferocity of her response. He wasn’t sure what to say next. Paige had a short temper and although she had learnt to control it much more than she ever used to be able to, occasionally he would see a glimpse of the old Paige and it worried him. 

As far as he was aware, when Veronica had left – after they’d successfully managed to convince the world that she was dead – Paige and her mother were on good terms. It had taken a while, but they appeared to have put the past behind them and had rebuilt their relationship. Now it was as if they’d taken a huge step backwards – at least it seemed as if Paige had taken one – and he couldn’t understand it. He had to say something. He had to calm her down.

“I’ve booked a weekend away.” 

Paige say bolt upright. “What?” she exclaimed. “When? Why? We’re in the middle of a case and now Mom’s gatecrashed her way back into my life again… what on earth possessed you to book a weekend away now?”

Walter swallowed hard. He shouldn’t have blurted it out like that, it certainly wasn’t how he’d planned to tell her and now she was angry and she’d probably make him cancel the booking and his plans for a romantic weekend were ruined.

“I… I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I… I thought you’d be pleased. I wanted to s…s…surprise you. Because I love you. I love you, Paige.”

Suddenly Paige’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh… Walter…” 

Walter sat up and pulled her into his arms. “Ssshhh,” he soothed. “It’s alright, I can cancel, I…”

“No!” she exclaimed. “No, don’t, please. I love you too, Walter. I’m sorry I snapped, I didn’t mean to.”

She lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Then a small smiled crossed her lips. “Did you really book a weekend away for us?”

“Yes,” replied Walter, nodding. “It’s a five star hotel and spa resort. I found an encrypted discount code.”

Paige burst out laughing. “Of course you did,” she said. Then she smashed her lips against his, kissing him with far more passion than he could have imagined in that moment.

“So… I take it this means I don’t have to cancel the booking?” he asked as Paige pushed him back down onto the bed and straddled his hips, pulling off her nightshirt as she did so.

“Don’t cancel,” insisted Paige. She began rocking gently against him and her lips twitched into a seductive smile.

Then she burst into tears again.

“Oh, Paige,” said Walter, with concern, gently pushing her away so he could sit up again and wrap his arms tenderly around her. He could feel her trembling as she sobbed. 

“I’m sorry, Walter,” she sniffed. “It’s just been a weird day.”

“We seem to have a lot of those around here,” replied Walter, trying to lighten the moment. It seemed to work as she lifted her head and managed a small smile. 

Walter hadn’t seen her like this for a long time and he wished he could understand what was going through her head so he could make her feel better. Veronica showing up had obviously upset her, but he wasn’t sure why. For a moment he thought about how he’d feel if his own parents arrived unannounced and then he realised how perturbed he would be too. 

He couldn’t help feeling that Paige’s low mood was also partly to do with trying for a baby and he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty for pushing the subject that morning. As much as he yearned for a child with Paige, if it didn’t happen he knew they would be fine and besides, it was far too soon to be concerned about difficulties conceiving. If only Paige could accept that too.

Walter gently stroked Paige’s hair and kissed the top of her head. “Everything will be alright,” he said, soothingly. “We’re going to help Cooper and you and your Mom are going to talk to each other and then we’re going to have a perfect weekend away. It’ll all be OK, Paige. I promise.”


	3. Deceit and Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toby realises he has his work cut out for him with Veronica, then the team suddenly realise just how dangerous their new case might be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thank you to everyone who is reading this story, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you have a moment, please leave a comment - I would really appreciate it._

“Good morning, Sweetheart. I'm making breakfast.”

“You didn't have to do this,” replied Paige climbing out of her car to be greeted by the smell of bacon wafting across the garage. “We've already eaten.”

“Then we'll call it brunch,” smiled Veronica, slicing bread as she spoke. “It’s the least I can...” but she stopped mid-sentence when she saw her grandson standing just behind Paige. “Ralph!” she exclaimed.

Ralph was a little taken aback by the intensity of the hug with which he was greeted by his grandmother. “Hi, Grandma,” he managed to say once he could inhale enough air into his lungs. “Mom told me you were back.”

Paige was stunned to see tears in her mother's eyes when she finally released Ralph from her arms, but before Paige could ask her if there was something wrong, Happy's truck pulled into the garage.

“Oh!” exclaimed Veronica, barely able to contain her excitement. “Please tell me they have the twins with them, I can’t wait to meet them.”

She rushed over to greet them, beaming with delight as Happy lifted Stella from her car seat and Toby swung Caitlin out of hers and into his arms.

“How did you sleep?” asked Toby. “Ray never complains about the bed in the Airstream, but... well, he's Ray. He could sleep on a roller coaster.”

“Like a log,” Veronica replied. It was a lie and she wasn’t sure if she’d fooled Toby or not, but as she was a master of deception and Toby appeared distracted by his daughters she was confident that she’d got away with it.

Stella stood for a moment, staring in silence at Veronica, but Caitlin took one look at the unfamiliar face and then buried her head into Toby's neck.

Veronica chuckled and smiled sweetly down at Stella. “Your sister's so shy,” she said. “You must be Stella. My name is Veronica, I'm Paige's Mommy.”

Paige hadn't thought about Veronica as her 'Mommy' for a very long time and hearing her say it felt strangely comforting. 

Stella, however, appeared unimpressed.

Ralph stepped forward and crouched down in front of the girl. “This is my Grandma,” he explained. 

Then Ralph suddenly realised Stella and Caitlin had no frame of reference for the term ‘Grandma’ as the only grandparents they had ever known were Patrick - who they called Gramps - and Cabe, who they affectionately referred to as Pops. Ralph glanced apologetically at Toby, but Toby just nodded encouragingly, so Ralph looked back to Stella. “Grandma,” he repeated.

Stella broke into a huge grin. “Gamma!” she squealed then she threw her arms around Ralph. “Play! Play! Play!”

Ralph laughed and unwrapped her arms from around his neck. “OK, I'll play with you,” he said and he took her tiny hand in his before leading her over to the box by the couch where the girls’ toys were kept.

“Ralph's so good with her,” smiled Veronica. 

Happy nodded. “He’s a natural,” she replied. Then she turned to Paige. “Where’s O’Brien?” she asked. “He said he needed my help with something this morning.”

“He went with Cabe to see an old FBI pal of his,” Paige explained. “The guy knows Katherine from way back, Cabe’s hoping he might have heard something about this spying charge. They won’t be long.”

Just then the door opened and Sylvester rushed in. “The bus was late!” he called out as he hurried over to his desk. “I hate it when the bus is late, especially when I’ve got to read over some court documents _and_ write a speech for a council meeting _and_ hack into historic Homeland files without landing myself in jail.”

Sylvester carefully hung his bag over the back of his chair and sat himself down with a sigh. 

Paige shot him a sympathetic look. “You’ve taken on too much, Sly,” she said. “Something’s gotta give.”

Toby nodded. “Yeah, like your sanity, pal,” he added.

“Well thank you, Toby,” replied Sylvester with uncharacteristic sarcasm. “As if I wasn’t already stressed out enough, now I’m going to worry about losing my marbles.”

“Just some friendly advice,” answered Toby with a shrug. “But I can recommend a good shrink, call me!” he added, making an old-fashioned telephone gesture with his free hand against his left ear.

Happy knocked his hand away and glared at him. “Give him a break, Doc,” she urged. “You know he’s missing Kimberley.”

Toby raised his eyebrows in a knowing gesture, but said nothing more on the subject. At that moment, Cabe’s SUV pulled into the garage and he and Walter got out.

“Sly,” said Walter, before he’d even had time to close the car door behind him. “Have you accessed those Homeland files?”

Happy frowned at him. “He’s working on it, boss,” she replied and Sylvester flashed her a grateful smile. “So,” continued Happy. “Did you find out anything about Cooper?”

“Anything juicy?” added Toby with a grin as he shifted Caitlin from one hip to the other. “Like a penchant for slasher movies? Or a meth habit?”

“Shut it, Doc,” snapped Cabe. “If you didn’t have your precious daughter in your arms, my foot and your ass… um, your _behind_ would be getting up close and personal right about now.”

Toby smiled smugly before kissing Caitlin tenderly on the top of her head.

Veronica couldn’t help but notice the little girl was still clinging tightly to Toby and her face fell into a concerned frown. “Is she OK?” she asked.

“She gets a little overwhelmed sometimes,” Toby explained. “Why don't we go somewhere a less crowded and I'll introduce you properly.”

They headed for the kitchen, leaving Sylvester and Walter discussing the best way to get into the Homeland archives, Paige and Ralph playing with an excitable Stella and Cabe telling Happy all about the meeting with his old FBI contact.

"I'd forgotten just how hectic it can get at this place," said Veronica as they seated themselves at the table. "I guess it's a lot for a little kid."

"Stella loves it when we're all here," replied Toby. "But it takes Caitlin a while to settle and she's kinda nervous around strangers.”

“I heard about the girls’ accident,” said Veronica. “The one that killed their birth parents, I mean." Veronica had learnt the details of the terrible car accident that had left the girls orphaned from Ralph. 

Toby nodded. "Stella doesn't remember a thing, but Caitlin has some memories and we're still learning how they affect her."

"The poor baby," replied Veronica, sympathetically. "Hey sweetie," she said, touching Caitlin's arm tenderly. 

"Say 'Hi' to Veronica," urged Toby. "It's OK," he added, gently. 

Caitlin lifted her head and slowly turned to look at Veronica. 

"It’s OK," said Toby again and Caitlin finally twisted herself around on her daddy's lap.

"Now I can see your pretty face," smiled Veronica and, to her delight, Caitlin smiled back.

Veronica picked up a Chinese take-away menu that had been left on the table and held it out for Caitlin, who duly took it from her and began to play with it, carefully unfolding and folding it and looking at it with such intensity that anyone watching her might think she was actually reading it.

“I wasn’t around much when Paige was this age,” said Veronica, sadly.

Toby sat up straighter at her revelation. It wasn’t like Paige’s mother to be so honest and Toby immediately knew there was more to come. 

“I guess you have a few gaps like that,” he prompted, as Caitlin continued to fold and unfold the menu.

Veronica nodded. “Yes,” she replied, quietly. “I wasn’t a good mother, I was… away a lot. I’m just glad Paige didn’t take after me. Ralph is such a wonderful young man and it’s all down to her… and Walter, of course.”

“We’re all big fans of Ralphy-Boy around here,” replied Toby with a grin. It was true that almost since the day they’d met, the whole team had developed a huge amount of affection for the young genius.

Veronica smiled at Toby’s use of Ralph’s nickname and she glanced over her shoulder towards her daughter and grandson.

Caitlin started squirming and so Toby set her down. She stood between him and Veronica for a moment, looking across to where her sister was happily playing with Ralph and Paige, before scampering off to join them.

“Your girls are delightful,” said Veronica, turning back to Toby. 

“Thank you,” replied Toby. “Still can’t believe we’ll have three kids by the end of this month.”

He paused, wondering if he should push Veronica to open up. He knew there was something bothering her, but she’d spent her life as a con artist and so she was one of the few people he’d encountered who could bypass his behaviourist skills. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Veronica, suddenly. “You want to know why I’m here.”

“Would you tell me the truth if I asked?” 

“Well now, that would be for you to decide,” replied Veronica, with a smirk.

“Still keeping me on my toes,” grinned Toby, impressed at her ability to continue this conversation whilst still giving him nothing. No markers, nothing. She was very, very good at this.

“And you’re still keeping me on mine,” replied Veronica with a wink. “This might just be the greatest con of my life… or maybe I’m being honest for once? Maybe I really did decide to visit because I missed my daughter? There. Now it’s over to you.”

Toby chuckled. “I think I’m going to need some more time,” he said, pointedly.

Veronica shrugged. “I intend to stay for as long as Paige will have me,” she responded. “So please, take as long as you like.”

With that, she winked at him and got up from her seat, leaving Toby shaking his head as she walked away. He relished a challenge, but this was more than a game, he knew that much at least. What little he’d managed to garner from his brief conversation with Veronica had left him with the distinct feeling that there was something serious going on.

Paige had had a tough time these past couple of years. The temporary break up of her relationship with Walter had left her struggling to make sense of the effects of years of insecurity and Toby was more than a little worried that whatever Veronica was keeping from her daughter – and from him - might just set back her recovery. That was the last thing Paige needed, not when her and Walter had worked so hard to repair their lives and were planning to expand their family.

“Toby!” Walter called out, breaking into Toby’s thoughts. “Everyone, gather round.”

Walter switched on the monitor tree as the team assembled, with Veronica staying on the floor with Caitlin and Stella, much to Happy’s relief. Getting down to the floor was becoming more and more difficult these days, not to mention getting back up again.

Cabe pointed to one of the screens. “This is the list of charges Cooper’s facing,” he began. “I figure Sly’s the only one who can make sense of all of them, but essentially she’s been accused of espionage, selling secrets to the government of The South Central Republic of the African Coast.”

Paige looked up at Cabe’s words. “Isn’t that the brand new independent territory we keep hearing about on the news?” she asked.

Toby nodded. “Formed when corrupt governments kissed the asses of even more corrupt militia groups,” he noted.

Happy shook her head. “Not good.”

“This is crazy!” exclaimed Sylvester. “Director Cooper wouldn’t do something like this.”

“I know, kid,” agreed Cabe. “But these charges are sticking for now.”

Ralph looked seriously at Cabe. “Then we need to unstick them,” he said, with determination.

Walter wished he could reassure Ralph that they would be able to do just that, but with what little information they had, he couldn’t see them solving this one anytime soon.

Happy let out a long sigh and sat herself down on a chair. Immediately, Toby looked at her with concern. “You OK, Darlin’?” he asked. 

“Can’t I sit down now without you thinking something’s wrong?” she snapped.

Toby held up his hands in mock defence. “Is there?” he pushed.

Happy frowned. “You try standing up for longer than five minutes when you’re eight months pregnant, Doc and then you can answer your own question.”

“I remember when I was carrying Paige,” said Veronica, looking up from the pile of plastic bricks she and the girls were stacking. “I had terrible backache and heartburn every day for the last two months.”

“Classic pregnancy symptoms,” noted Toby. “So far my beautiful wife’s managed to avoid too much heartburn, but she’s got varicose veins you can see from space!”

Happy slapped him on the arm and he yelped. “It’s a good thing I love you, Doc,” she hissed.

Toby smiled sweetly at her. “Love you too, Honeybunch,” he replied before kissing her on the forehead.

“Can we focus?” said Walter, earning a disapproving look from Paige. “We have some information to check out, but we need to speak to Cooper again. Cabe, has she replied to your messages, yet?”

Cabe pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and stared at the screen. He shook his head. “Nothing,” he said, glancing at Walter with a concerned expression.

“Oh no,” muttered Sylvester. “Do you think something’s happened? They can’t hold her until they have evidence, so… so what if they found evidence?”

Toby shook his head. “If she’s under arrest she would be entitled to a phone call,” he pointed out. “She would’ve made contact.” He looked at Sylvester with a smug grin on his face. “Or did you forget that, Mister Fancy Pants Lawyer?”

“I didn’t forget,” retorted Sylvester, folding his arms across his chest in a defiant stance. “But there are exceptional circumstances where…” but he didn’t finish his sentence as the whole team were distracted by the sound of squealing brakes coming from outside, quickly followed by a crashing sound and then more squealing of tyres.

“Oh my god!” exclaimed Paige as everyone rushed towards the window. “That sounded bad.”

Walter pressed his nose to the glass to get a better view of the road outside. “I think someone’s been hit,” he announced.

Immediately Cabe was beside him, squinting as he took in the scene. “Oh hell,” he commented, taking a step backwards. “I think it’s Cooper.”

Sylvester gasped. “I’ll call 911,” he declared, as Toby ran to his desk to grab his medical bag before following Walter, Cabe, Paige and Ralph out of the door, while Sylvester and Veronica stayed in the garage with the twins.

Cabe was the first to Katherine’s side. She was lying on her back at the side of the road with her eyes closed. There was a large bruise on her forehead and her left arm was twisted awkwardly at her side. Cabe dropped to his knees beside her and pressed two fingers to her neck, sighing with relief as he felt a strong pulse. “Katherine!” he shouted at her, gently shaking her right shoulder. “Cooper! Wake up!”

In an instant, Toby and Walter caught up to the scene. “Move!” yelled Toby and Cabe shuffled backwards to allow him some space and Toby quickly set to work, checking her vital signs and her injuries.

“Is she… is she OK?” asked Paige, hesitantly as she and Ralph joined them.

Toby briefly glanced up at her before turning his attention back to his patient. “OK in the sense that she’s just been hit by a car, but she’s still alive, you mean?” he offered, as he prised open her eyelids.

Page shrugged, acknowledging her question had been kind of futile.

“Why didn’t she let us know she was on her way here?” pondered Walter. “And on foot, too.”

“Shall we leave the whys and wherefores for later?” suggested Toby, pulling his stethoscope from his bag.

Cooper made a low groaning noise and her head turned to one side. Her eyes flickered open briefly, then closed again.

“She’s awake!” exclaimed Cabe, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Hey, you’re OK,” said Toby reassuringly, cupping the side of Cooper’s face in his hand. “Take it easy, just breathe.”

Cooper groaned again and her eyes opened fully this time. She blinked deeply and looked up at the sea of faces bearing down on her.

“Give her some space,” urged Paige, tugging at Ralph’s arm and they took a step backwards with Cabe, but Walter didn’t move. Instead he began surveying the area, mentally recording every detail about the scene and his eyes narrowed as he made calculations at lightning speed.

Toby knew Katherine was in a lot of pain. Her head must be pounding, he realised and it looked like her wrist was broken, but now her breathing had become shallow and he was concerned. “Tell me where you’re feeling it,” he urged.

“Everywhere,” she breathed and Toby flashed her a sympathetic smile. “The car… it… it…” but she didn’t have the strength to speak.

Toby glanced at Ralph. “She needs a blanket,” he said and Ralph nodded and raced back towards the garage.

“Did you get the licence plate?” asked Cabe as Toby palpated her abdomen.

“Oh sure,” retorted Toby. “And she took a couple photos too as she was flying through the air.”

Cabe scowled at him, but Toby had turned his attention back to his patient.

“Katherine, listen to me,” he said firmly, but gently. “There’s an ambulance on its way. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but I think you got lucky. Couple of cracked ribs, your wrist is fractured and a headache the size of Walt’s ego, but it could’ve been a lot worse. I just need you to focus on breathing, OK?”

“OK,” replied Katherine, in a shuddery voice. 

Ralph came running back with a blanket and he draped it over her. “Sly’s chasing up the ambulance,” he explained. “And he’s hacked into the CCTV camera on Florence’s old building. He thinks it might have captured the whole thing.”

“Do you think it was deliberate?” asked Paige, keeping her voice low.

Walter nodded. “I’m certain of it,” he replied. “From the trajectory of the vehicle and the location of the impact, the car would have to have been travelling between thirty two and thirty four miles per hour and deliberately turned at an angle of approximately seventy one degrees for this to have happened. Agreed, Ralph?”

Ralph nodded seriously. “Agreed,” he confirmed. “This was no accident. Someone tried to kill Director Cooper.”


	4. Always My Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paige struggles with her feelings as Veronica continues to cause trouble at the garage, but could there be a good reason behind her mother's behaviour?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter posted. I hope you all enjoy the update. I'd really appreciate your comments, if you would be so kind, just so I know you're still with me!_

“I really appreciate this, you know.”

Katherine Cooper clung to Cabe’s arm as he slowly guided her across the garage towards the ramp.

“It’s no bother,” Cabe answered earnestly. “Someone out there tried to kill you yesterday, I don’t think you should be alone. Happy’s upgraded the security system so you’ll be safe here. Besides, Homeland still think you’re a potential threat to national security. I had to pull a few strings this morning to get ‘em to agree to letting you stay here.”

“And there’s the little fact that you’re less than twenty four hours out of surgery on that wrist,” added Toby, who was walking on her other side. “So it’s this, or we all move into your place.”

“God, no!” exclaimed Katherine as they walked up the ramp. She turned to Cabe, intending to say something else, but the twisting motion sent a shooting pain across her chest and she let out an audible gasp, all thoughts of conversation disappearing in a flash of agony.

Toby put a supportive hand on her back. “Let's get you into bed,” he said. “And I'll get you some stronger pain relief.”

“I don’t need...” began Katherine, but as soon as the words had left her lips she knew she was beaten. “Thank you,” she said, quietly. 

“Hey,” replied Cabe. “You’ve gotten us out of enough trouble in the past, it’s about time we returned the favour.”

Toby eased Katherine down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. “OK?” he asked, knowing full well that she wasn’t ‘OK' at all. 

Katherine’s face was radiating pain and fear, yet she was determined to maintain her professional persona. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of anyone. She forced a small smile onto her lips and replied with a single nod, just as Paige and Veronica appeared at the top of the stairs.

“I brought you some water,” said Paige, placing a small jug on the bedside table. Condensation immediately began to pool around the base and Paige grabbed a tissue to soak it up.

“Should've put that on a coaster,” said Veronica, in a slightly condescending tone as she stood an empty glass next to the jug.

“Gee, thanks for the great advice, Mom,” Paige answered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

“I'm just trying to be helpful,” retorted Veronica.

Paige turned and glared at her mother. “Y'know, I think I’ve just about got this,” she snapped.

Before Veronica could reply, Toby's outstretched arm was between them. “Time out!” he called. “Ladies, please, no bickering in front of my patient.” He looked at Paige for an explanation, but she refused to make eye contact.

“So, er,” began Cabe, eager to break the tension. “Did I hear Walt and Sly mention they got something off the CCTV tape?”

“Tape?” replied Toby, with a snigger, passing two small pills to Katherine. “I guess O’Brien’s out now looking for a VCR so he can watch it, is he?”

Cabe pressed his lips together, he really wasn’t in the mood for Toby today. “Walt said he’d grabbed a partial plate from the camera footage, Sly’s running it through international databases right now.”

Veronica sat herself down on the foot of the bed and smiled at Paige. “Do you remember that tape you used to watch over and over when you were little?” she asked. “The one with those cute animals that went to school and their teacher was a raccoon, or a squirrel, or something?”

“Mom, please don’t,” hissed Paige.

Toby glanced at Cabe. Clearly something had happened between Paige and Veronica during the hour they were out collecting Katherine from the hospital. 

“Hey, Cabe,” said Toby, realising Paige was close to doing something she'd regret. “Paige and I are gonna get Katherine settled here. Why don’t you take Veronica to... well, anywhere away from Paige because I don’t think you or I are ready to referee another fight between these two.”

“Toby!” exclaimed Paige, but Veronica waved her hands in the air to stop her talking.

“Sweetie, I think Toby has a point,” she said. “You do seem to be a little, well, a little emotional today.”

“Mom!”

But Cabe grabbed Veronica firmly by the shoulders and led her away before the fight Toby had predicted could begin.

Paige's lips were tightly pressed together and she glared at Toby. As much as he wanted to know what was going on, he recognised that look and realised he needed to say nothing until she'd calmed down a little in the interests of his own personal safety. 

Cabe, on the other hand, couldn’t keep quiet. He hated to see Paige upset and he wasn’t prepared to let it go.

“What was all that about, just now?” he asked as soon as he and Veronica were downstairs.

“Oh, just a silly argument,” replied Veronica, dismissively. Then she lowered her voice a little. “Truth is, I think she's threatened by my presence. She thinks I'm going to interfere with her relationship with Walter.”

Cabe wasn’t at all convinced by her words. “After what they've been through it'll take a whole lot more than you to cause trouble for them.”

“You underestimate me,” Veronica answered with a coy wink. “Oh, don’t you worry,” she continued at Cabe's worried look. “Causing trouble is the last thing I want to do. After all, it's thanks to me that they’re together at all.”

“It is?”

“Remember last time I was here she was still with that other guy. The hunk from Homeland,” she explained. “The other hunk from Homeland, I should say,” she added with another wink.

Cabe shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was wise enough not to be fooled by her flirting, but it was starting to make him feel just a little uncomfortable and he was curious to know what she was trying to achieve by it.

“Well,” Veronica continued, slightly disappointed not to have invoked a better reaction from him. “Just before I left, I gave Walter some advice about how to win my daughter and it looks like he followed it. She doesn’t know that, of course, unless Walt told her himself?”

“Paige and Walt don’t have any secrets from each other,” insisted Cabe. 

Veronica giggled. “Nonsense!” she exclaimed. “Everyone has secrets. Even you. Maybe you could tell me a few over dinner one night?” She reached out and brushed her hand against his arm as she spoke.

Cafe’s mouth fell open and he took a step backwards. “You… you do realise I’m with Allie, don’t you?” he asked incredulously. 

“Relax, Cabe,” she replied. “I’m just messing with you! A girl can still have a little fun with an old friend, can’t she? Allie seems very sweet, I’m very happy for you both.”

Cabe was rarely lost for words, but this was one of those times. Maybe he was being unfair, but he simply couldn’t trust Veronica, he couldn’t take her at her word. Page’s mother was a con artist - and she was damned good at it too, he acknowledged. Her surprise arrival, upsetting Paige and now blatantly flirting with him... none of it made any sense. She was up to no good, he was convinced of it... well, almost convinced. 

He narrowed his eyes and locked his gaze with hers. “I don’t know what your game is,” he began. “But if you hurt Paige, I'll...”

Veronica looked horrified. “Cabe! I wouldn’t...” she began, but she was interrupted by the sound of Walter’s car pulling into the garage. She gave Cabe a final smile before walking over to greet the new arrival, leaving him slightly bewildered by the whole encounter.

Walter was barely out of the car when Veronica grabbed his elbow and took him to one side. “Walter, I need to talk to you in private,” she hissed, glancing over her shoulder and not at all surprised to see Cabe watching her intently.

“It’ll have to wait,” Walter replied. “I have an update on Cooper.”

“But this is about Cooper,” replied Veronica. “Kind of. Please, Walter. I was hoping Cabe would help, but he doesn’t trust me. I don’t know why exactly.”

“Perhaps because of your criminal record and your warped moral code?” offered Walter without a hint of sarcasm. 

Veronica shrugged. “I know he's very protective of my daughter – of all of you – and I do appreciate that, but this is a matter of life and death.”

Walter's eyes widened at her words. “OK, I'm listening,” he said.

Veronica shook her head. “Not here,” she responded and she led him over to the kitchen before continuing. “First of all, I just wanted to say how delighted I am that you and Paige are finally together. You’re so good for her, she needs stability in her life. I know I've failed her as a mother and I'm not proud of the way I treated her, but...”

“Is there a point to this?” Walter interrupted her impatiently. 

“Oh, yes, well I wanted to ask you... um, that is, um...” She trailed off and let out a deep sigh.

Walter wasn’t sure how to interpret her behaviour. She clearly had something important to say, but now she was apparently avoiding saying whatever it was. His patience was running out, he'd just come from a meeting with his contact at the Homeland technical research department and he wanted to run something past Toby that might have significant bearing on the charges Cooper was facing. He didn’t have time for whatever game Veronica was trying to play.

Veronica let out another deep sigh. “You don't trust me either,” she said. “I suppose I deserve it. Look, I’m going to tell you something, but I need you to promise me you won’t tell Paige.”

“Paige and I don’t keep secrets from each other,” Walter replied quickly.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “That’s what Cabe told me,” she said. “It’s just that it’s probably safer for her if she doesn’t know.”

Now Walter was paying attention. “Safer?” He repeated. “Is Paige in danger? What have you done?”

“The car that tried to kill your Homeland boss lady,” she began, looking nervously over her shoulder. “Are you sure she was the intended victim?”

“The vehicle made a deliberate detour from its original trajectory in order to hit her,” Walter explained. “Happy and I have reviewed the available data several times. There's no doubt.”

“But are you sure it was meant to hit _Cooper_?” asked Veronica. “I mean, is it possible whoever was driving that car thought she was someone else?”

Walter paused for a moment to process what she'd just said. “Someone like you?” he offered.

Veronica nodded. 

“A...a...are you in... in trouble?” he asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. 

Veronica shrugged. “Maybe...” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

Walter shook his head in disgust. 

“I can’t say any more right now,” continued Veronica. “But please believe me when I tell you this is different to the other times. I can handle it by myself, but I didn’t want you going off on a wild goose chase, that’s all.”

Walter nodded. He supposed he should be grateful that she'd come to him with this and she was right, they couldn’t afford to waste time looking for a potential killer if Cooper's life wasn’t in danger after all. They had enough to do trying to prove her innocence. 

Walter turned his head slightly as he heard Paige's voice from the loft. He would keep Veronica's secret – at least for now – if it helped to keep her out of danger, unless Paige asked him a direct question then he would tell her everything. He would never lie to Paige again. Never. He had far too much to lose.

Walter spun on his heels and marched over to the monitor tree. To his relief, Veronica didn’t follow him, instead heading back into the trailer.

“Team briefing!” he called out. Then his brow furrowed into a frown. “Where are Happy and Ralph?” 

“Gone with Allie and the kids to the mall,” replied Cabe. 

“My beautiful wife had backache,” explained Toby as he and Paige walked down the stairs from the loft. “I suggested gentle walking and she knows I’m always right.”

“I see,” responded Walter. “Well I spoke to Steve Gannon at Homeland. He and his team were working on a top secret project, but now they’ve been shut down as part of this espionage investigation.”

“What kind of top secret project?” asked Toby. 

“Top secret,” replied Paige, rolling her eyes. “That means we’re not supposed to know.”

“It’s a tracking device,” announced Sylvester, suddenly. He'd been working so quietly at his desk all morning Paige had almost forgotten he was there. “For undercover agents working in the field. It’s designed to be undetectable. They’ve been developing the technology for a while. I have the spec on my laptop if you’re interested.”

Cabe folded his arms across his chest and frowned. “I don’t want to know you got hold of that do I?” he offered.

Sylvester looked at Walter and then back to Cabe. “Er, no you don’t,” he confirmed. 

“Toby,” said Walter, quickly changing the subject. “I've known Steve for a while, but today his behaviour was... different. I can’t really explain it, but something wasn’t right. I'd like to run it by you.”

Toby grinned. “I'll make a behaviourist out of you yet,” he replied. “I’ll be right with you, just need a word with Veronica first.”

“No he doesn’t,” Paige replied quickly.

Walter looked puzzled, but Toby laughed it off. “Just wanted to brief her on Katherine's care seeing as she’ll be the one here with her most of the time. She's gonna need a hand with things. A _hand _. See what I did there?”__

____

____

Sylvester rolled his eyes. “I thought it was her wrist that was injured?” he offered.

“She's _hand_ -ling it OK, though,” grinned Toby.

Sylvester couldn’t take any more and he went back over to his desk.

“Hey!” Toby cried out in mock objection. “I still have a whole bunch of hand puns left.”

Walter wasn’t in the mood either and he went to talk to Cabe, leaving Toby with Paige.

“Kitchen,” she snapped. “Now.”

Toby raised his eyebrows in surprise. He’d been expecting her to avoid starting a conversation with him, but he dutifully followed her, hoping he'd get to the bottom of what was going on.

“OK,” she began, spinning around to face him. “I know you think I need some kind of therapy to fix things with my Mom, but I don’t. Not this time. We're fine.”

“Fine?” repeated Toby, incredulously.

Paige sighed. “Yes,” she insisted.

“Great!” exclaimed Toby. “Then my work here is done.” He turned as if he was about to walk away.

“Wait,” Paige called out… just like he knew she would and Toby turned back, keeping a neutral expression on his face.

“She keeps talking about the past and it’s weird,” began Paige, her face twisting as the anger built inside her. “Like she suddenly thinks my childhood was so perfect. Has she forgotten all the times she wasn’t there? All the holidays she missed? All the parent teacher evenings she wasn’t there for because she was on the run from the cops, or from someone she'd stolen money from, or… or in goddamn jail, Toby! And she expects me to agree that I had this idyllic, perfect childhood and she got mad at me because I called her out on it! I don’t understand? We made our peace before she left here the last time, Toby. Why is she doing this?”

Toby put his hand on her forearm and he felt her tense beneath his fingers. “And… breathe,” he encouraged and Paige took a deep breath, allowing the fresh air to clear her head.

She was angry with herself for allowing Veronica to get to her her like this. She'd spent her whole life carrying around so much resentment from her childhood, but in the last year and a half – since she and Walter had temporarily broken up - Toby had helped her to understand how it affected her and taught her how to reconcile her feelings. She thought she was over it. Now it had all been dragged up again and Paige felt as though she'd taken a huge step backwards.

Toby squeezed her arm supportively. He used to think Walter was the one member of Scorpion he could never quite figure out, but over the last year or two he'd come to realise Paige was far more complex. “Let me talk to your Mom,” he said.

“But she terrifies you?” offered Paige, managing a small smile.

“I wouldn’t say that… not exactly,” replied Toby, returning the smile. “But she's kinda fascinating. I actually already have a couple theories about why she's here, I just need to figure out some details.”

“I don’t even know if I wanna know.”

“Just leave this to me and stop worrying about it,” insisted Toby. “Trying for a baby can put enough strain on a relationship,” he pointed out. “Believe me, I know.”

Paige screwed up her face. “What’s that got to do with anything?” she asked. “My relationship with Walter is just fine, thank you. I’m not pregnant yet… not that this is any of your business… but I will be. We're going away this weekend, everything’s good.”

“Then promise me you’ll concentrate on baby making and not your Mommy issues, deal?”

Paige shrugged and nodded. “Deal.”

Suddenly a shrill sound pierced the air and reverberated around the garage.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Cabe, throwing his newspaper on the floor and leaping out of his chair as Veronica appeared from the trailer with a startled look on her face.

“Alarm upgrade!” Walter explained, raising his voice over the noise and he ran to the control unit to turn it off. “I hope Katherine wasn’t sleeping,” he added as he silenced the sound, glancing up towards the loft as he spoke.

“If she was she isn’t now,” retorted Toby. He and Paige strode across toward the monitor tree as it burst into life. “I may have to talk to my darling wife about downgrading the upgrade.”

“Richard Elia,” said Sylvester, pointing to the image of a yellow Lamborghini on the screens in front of them. “He’s outside, probably wondering why the door won’t open. We have a meeting,” he added. “He’s a character witness. My client is a former employee of his.”

“Well, let the man in!” urged Cabe, waving a finger at the screen.

“Oh… oh, yes,” replied Walter and he pressed another button on the control unit.

Veronica let out a whistle as the shiny sports car pulled into the garage. “You need to introduce me to your friend, Sylvester,” she said and a broad smile crossed her lips.

“No, he doesn’t,” retorted Paige, but it was too late as before she could stop her, Veronica had introduced herself.

“I’m sure you’ve heard all about me,” smiled the older woman.

“Um, well, I…” stammered Richard, awkwardly. Paige rarely spoke about her mother to anyone so in fact he’d heard nothing at all about Veronica.

“Probably for the best,” replied Veronica, with a coy wink. “I have a colourful past,” she added, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Richard laughed. “Don’t we all?” he responded and he ran his fingers through his hair.

Veronica laughed too and briefly touched his elbow.

Toby winced at their body language. They’d only just met, but Veronica was all over him. She was an expert at manipulation, but as far as Toby could tell this was genuine. She was flirting like crazy… and Richard was lapping it up.

Sylvester stood up. “We, er, we have some business to deal with,” he reminded Richard.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Veronica. “Please, don’t let me stop you, but… but I’m staying here for a few days, or maybe weeks…”

Paige tried not to gasp at her words. That was the first she’d heard about her mother’s long term plans.

“So,” continued Veronica. “I’d be happy to, maybe… cook you a meal, one evening. For you and… your wife?”

“Wow,” muttered Toby under his breath. She really wasn’t wasting any time. It was fascinating to watch… at least it was for him. 

Paige, on the other hand, was visibly squirming and Cabe and Sylvester didn’t look too comfortable either. Walter, of course, was oblivious to it all.

“I’m… I’m not married,” replied Richard, blushing a little as he was suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. “Not anymore.”

“Then it’s… a date?” prompted Veronica.

“Mom!” began Paige, stepping forward, but Toby held her back and shook his head. Paige interfering now was only going to make Veronica's behaviour worse and that wouldn't do Paige's current state of mind any good at all. Besides, Toby was desperate to see how this was going to unfold.

Richard had been single for a long time now and although he was still on friendly terms with his ex-wife the breakdown of their marriage had hit him hard. He was used to women fawning over him, especially once they found out how much money he had in the bank, but he never usually paid them any attention. Something about Veronica Dineen was different, though. Something _felt_ different and he couldn’t explain it, but he liked it. 

He smiled warmly at her and nodded.

“Sure, why not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _To be continued..._


	5. Stirring Up Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica's behaviour overshadows everyone's thoughts - despite their own issues - but the next day there's a shock in store for Paige.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I've kept you waiting a little longer than I'd hoped I would, but I hope this slightly longer chapter makes up for the delay. I appreciate all your comments, thank you kindly to everyone who has left one so far._

“She did what?”

Happy couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. She slowly lowered herself down onto the edge of the bed and stared up at Toby. 

“She invited Richard Elia for dinner,” replied her husband, pulling his t-shirt over his head as he spoke. “And he said yes.”

“A dinner date.”

“Yes.”

“Not good.”

Toby sighed and sat down next to Happy. “What’s wrong with Veronica dating Elia?”

“Besides the fact she’s a con artist and he’s a multi-millionaire, you mean?”

“Don’t be so cynical,” Toby reprimanded her. “That’s exactly what Paige is thinking and you’re both wrong. Her motives were genuine.”

“But you said yourself you can’t always read her, Doc,” Happy reminded him. 

Toby smiled and began gently massaging her shoulders. “Well this time I can read her like a book,” he insisted. “It’s true Veronica can pull the wool over my eyes if she tries hard enough, but come on, Darlin’, where’s your romantic side? Elia was into her too, y’know. This could be the start of something beautiful!”

“Or it could be the start of Elia getting conned out of his fortune,” replied Happy, squirming a little as Toby’s fingers worked her aching muscles. “I’m gonna reserve judgement for now, but even if she and Elia are suddenly all loved up, doesn’t explain why she decided to blow her cover and show up here again in the first place. Paige is _really_ pissed.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” agreed Toby. “Veronica’s been acting a little weird since she got here, but well, you know Paige - the Queen of Overreacting. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on.”

“When you get it, please tell Paige,” replied Happy. “I can’t take much more of her in this mood.”

“Don’t let Paige get to you,” said Toby. “It’s just her self-defence mechanism. She’s trying to protect herself from getting hurt.”

“Yeah, well, we all remember what happened last time her self-defence mechanism kicked in,” noted Happy, dryly. “Scorpion went to shit.”

Toby sighed and released Happy’s shoulders from his grasp. He was certain it wouldn’t come to that again, but he knew he had to keep a close eye on Paige. He also knew he had a big challenge on his hands with Veronica. Maybe he’d have to try a different approach?

He didn’t want to think about it all now, though.

“Snuggle Time?” he offered, scampering across the bed, throwing himself backwards onto the pillows and opening his arms wide.

Happy chuckled. “Sure, why not,” she replied and she slowly manoeuvred herself into position.

 _Snuggle Time_ wasn’t quite the same as _Sexy Time_ , but it was all she’d been able to manage for the last few weeks. 

“Won’t be long now, Sugarplum,” he said, softly. “I love you.”

It was as if he’d read her mind. She loved the way he did that. She knew he could read almost everyone, but it felt extra special when it was her. She loved the way he could tell her what she was thinking – and why she was thinking it – sometimes before she knew herself. 

Happy felt the baby kick as Toby’s hand gently stroked her swollen belly and she smiled. “I love you too, Doc,” she said. She closed her eyes and allowed a feeling of warm contentment to wash over her, but it didn’t last long as her back twinged and she let out a yelp.

Toby was immediately concerned. “Here,” he said, grasping her hand in his. “Try to roll onto your side.”

“I’m trying,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Jeez, next time I tell you I want a baby, you say no, understood?”

Toby leaned down and captured her lips in a tender kiss. “You just wait until Baby Quintis is here,” he said. “If I was a betting man – which I’m not now, just to make that clear – I’d say six months, max, before you get broody again.”

“You’re wrong, Doc,” she insisted, shifting her weight again to try to get comfortable. “Three kids is enough.”

“I’m never wrong, Cupcake.”

“This time you are,” retorted Happy. “The wrongest of the wrong.”

“I don’t think ‘wrongest’ is a word, Honeybunch.”

“Shut up!” snarled Happy. Pedantic Toby was the last thing she needed right now.

“Ssshhh,” Toby soothed. “You’re just being grouchy because your back hurts.” He snuggled down under the covers to spoon with her. “Why don’t we talk about something else?” he suggested and Happy nodded. “So, One Ninety Seven spoke to Gannon from Homeland today.”

“The Tech Team guy?”

“Yep,” nodded Toby. “The guy who always checks out your booty.”

“He does not!”

“Sure does. I was ready to punch his lights out last time,” replied Toby. “But… I’m a bigger man than that.”

“And you’re chicken,” chuckled Happy. 

Toby said nothing.

“So what did he say to O’Brien?” prompted Happy.

“Oh, yeah, well it’s not what he said, exactly,” Toby began to explain. “It’s what he didn’t say. Walt figures he was scared of something… or someone. His team were working on that tracking device, but now this thing with Cooper means the project’s on ice. He said he didn’t know why, but Walt actually picked up on some markers. Gannon knew more than he was letting on, but he was scared to say anything more.”

“So there’s something going on at Homeland,” said Happy with a sigh. “Even when Merrick was up to his dirty tricks, he was out on his own. This is different. We could be looking at major corruption here.”

“Woah, slow down!” urged Toby. “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I didn’t catch anything from anyone I spoke to when I went in there with Cabe the other day. I figure it’s just a small pocket of sleaze, not the whole of Homeland.”

“I hope you’re right, Doc,” replied Happy with a sigh. “I hope you’re right.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

“There, see? I’m not pregnant. Just like I told you.”

Paige thrust the pregnancy test in front of Walter’s face. He had to squint to focus on the tiny blue line. 

Just the one line. 

Walter sighed to himself. Of course he was disappointed, but he didn’t want to let Paige see just how much and besides, like he’d already said, they were only a few weeks into trying to get pregnant and there really wasn’t any need to panic yet.

He was still disappointed, though.

He took the white plastic stick from Paige’s hands and threw it onto the floor.

“Walter!” exclaimed Paige. “There’s pee on that!”

“Urine does not contain any harmful bacteria,” replied Walter. “I’ll clean it up later.” He smiled at Paige. “Please sit down,” he urged. “You… you’re so beautiful, Paige.”

“Don’t,” snapped Paige and turned away from him. 

She didn’t feel beautiful. She was mad at Walter for making her take the test. She already knew it would be negative, but seeing that single blue line rammed it home and it _hurt_. She wanted to have a baby with Walter so much and she knew there was no logical reason why it wouldn’t happen in the next few months, but she felt like she couldn’t wait and it was driving her crazy.

And that scared her more than anything.

“Please,” repeated Walter. “I love you, I want to hold you. I want to… to comfort you. Please.”

Paige turned slowly. She couldn’t help but smile at his declaration. She walked towards him and fell into his arms. She closed her eyes as his warmth filled her heart and – momentarily at least – made her forget her worries.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know why… I guess I just want this so much.”

“So do I.”

“I know, but if… if we can’t…”

“Hey, hey…” Walter interrupted her. “We don’t need to think like that yet.” He gently pushed her away from him- just enough so he could look into her eyes - and he clutched her shoulders tightly. “Listen to me,” he urged. “All this… this stress isn’t helping. This weekend, at the hotel, I want you to promise me you’ll relax. Forget about everything. Forget about procreation, forget about Cooper and forget about your mother...”

Paige rolled her eyes. “Thanks for reminding me,” she said. “What is she doing, Walter? She got her claws into Richard so fast the poor guy didn’t stand a chance! I’ve never seen her act like this before. She’s up to something, I just know it.”

“Perhaps she simply finds him attractive?” offered Walter.

“She finds his bank balance attractive,” replied Paige, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t believe she’s aware of the extent of his wealth,” Walter pointed out.

“The car was a giveaway,” noted Paige.

“Could’ve been a rental.”

Paige shook her head. “No, she knows people, Walter. She would’ve spotted his ten thousand dollar watch from a mile away, the designer jeans, the expensive cologne. She knows. I need to warn him. I tried, but Toby stopped me.”

“As much as I hate to agree with Toby, I think you’re being a little unfair to Veronica,” Walter answered.

“I don’t want to see Richard get hurt,” explained Paige. “Especially not by my own mother.”

“I don’t think you should interfere.”

Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Deep down inside she knew Walter was right. Veronica would only end up resenting her and their relationship was already fractious enough at the moment. It was just one date, what’s the worst that could happen? Richard Elia was a highly intelligent man, he would see through her if she tried anything. Maybe Toby was right? Maybe this was just an innocent date? 

But nothing involving Veronica Dineen was ever innocent.

“OK,” she said, eventually. “OK, I’ll drop it, for now, but it won’t be easy for me not to think about it. Their date is on Friday and we’ll be at our hotel by then.” A seductive smile spread slowly across her lips. “You’ll have to work really hard to distract me.”

Walter brushed her hair behind her ear with his right hand and smiled back at her. “I think I can manage that,” he said and he kissed her softly. “I intend to be very distracting the whole weekend.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Hey, Rosa!” Toby walked across the garage with Caitlin in his arms as Allie and Rosa arrived the next morning. “How was your Mom?”

“She’s OK,” replied Rosa, quietly. “I gave her the card I made her. She liked it.”

“Great,” said Toby, glancing with concern at Allie, who wore a worried expression on her face. “And I bet she was happy to see you.”

Rosa nodded slowly. Caitlin reached out and touched Rosa’s nose and Rosa managed a small smile. 

“Caitlin doesn’t like to see you sad,” said Toby. He dropped to one knee in front of Rosa and stood Caitlin down on the floor. The toddler touched Rosa’s face again and this time Rosa giggled and took Caitlin’s chubby hand in hers. “Why don’t you take her to the couch and play?” suggested Toby. “She likes building things with the wooden blocks.”

“OK,” said Rosa and she carefully led Caitlin away.

“Rosa got a little upset at the hospital,” explained Allie when the girls were safely out of earshot. “Her mom’s on a lot of meds and I think it frightened Rosa to see her like that. She wasn’t really aware we were there half the time. The doctors are pleased with her progress though.”

“Rosa will understand, you just need to use the right words,” explained Toby. “If you need any help, gimme a shout, OK?”

“Thank you,” smiled Allie.

Just then, Happy and Paige walked over from the kitchen with Ralph and Stella. The little girl had Ralph’s hand tightly in hers and Toby smiled at the sight of their other daughter clinging to the young genius again.

“Rosa and Caitlin are over there building a tower, Ralphy-Boy,” he said, pointing towards the couch. “Why don’t you go show them the principles of a cantilever?”

“Great, more babysitting,” muttered Ralph.

“Hey, bucko,” hissed Paige. “You’re helping the team. You can hack into a government database later, or something, if it makes you feel better. Right now, you’re chief babysitter. Anyway, the kids love you.”

“OK,” sighed Ralph and he wandered off with Stella to join in the games.

“Katherine has some interesting information about the tracking device project.” Everyone turned round at the sound of Walter’s voice as he appeared from the loft with Cabe. “Where’s Sly?”

“Meeting with his client,” replied Happy as Walter and Cabe descended the steps. “Then he has a council meeting. Doubt if we’ll see him today.”

Walter frowned. “That’s unacceptable. We need him here.”

Paige looped her arm through his. “Walter, Sly has a lot on at the moment, but we should try to be supportive,” she said. “It’s probably best he’s keeps busy while Kimberley is away anyway.”

“Hmmm,” Walter replied, sounding unconvinced. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” said Cabe with a smile and he kissed Allie on the cheek. “How was the hospital?”

Allie and Cabe headed to the kitchen as she explained about their visit with Rosa’s mother, leaving Walter, Toby and Happy to talk over the new information they had about the case.

Paige sat with them as they ran through their plans. She heard their conversation about the so-called top secret project and about the behaviour of the Homeland Tech Team, but she wasn’t really listening. 

She felt… tired. Emotionally, more than physically and it bothered her more than it probably should have done.

She glanced over to where Allie and Ralph were entertaining Rosa and the twins and smiled as Stella climbed onto Ralph’s lap. He would be so good with a baby brother or sister, she knew that. He’d grown up as an only child and he’d never had any friends at school in the early years. He had school friends now and it filled her heart with joy every time he was invited to a party, an outing or a sleepover with one of them, but it wasn’t the same as having a sibling.

Paige had no siblings and she knew what it was like to grow up alone. . Now, of course, they both had a family and she knew she could count on Toby, Happy or Sylvester as if they were her siblings and they had already faced so many challenges together already, but it didn’t make up for her lonely childhood. 

When her father died - when she’d really needed a family - she’d had no one. She’d been alone. 

She’d known her mother was out there somewhere, but even if Veronica had tried to make contact at that time – which she hadn’t – Paige wouldn’t have wanted her around. 

“Paige?”

Walter’s voice dragged her out of her thoughts.

“What? Oh, sorry, I was just… um…” She closed her eyes, desperate to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

“So, can you do it, or not?” Walter asked, bluntly. “This… this is time critical, Paige.”

Toby rolled his eyes. Snippy Walter was the last thing Paige needed right now.

“I was thinking about something else,” replied Paige, honestly. “What is it you need me to do?”

“Go over the Homeland accounts,” replied Walter. “To check for unusual activity. Normally I’d ask Sly, but he’s not here.”

Paige sighed. “Sure,” she replied, even though it sounded like the most boring of tasks imaginable. “And don’t be so hard on Sly,” she added with a frown. “He’s busy, he’s dealing with a lot. Give him some space.”

Happy nodded. “I’m with the waitress,” she replied, still using her old nickname for Paige. “Give the kid a break.”

Paige got to her feet. “So,” she said, grateful for Happy’s endorsement. “Let’s summarise.” 

She suddenly felt a new found sense of purpose, determined not to let her woes interfere with the smooth running of Scorpion. 

“I’m going to… to hack into the accounts,” began Walter. “And you’re going to check for anomalies. Toby will be profiling every member of the Tech Team.”

Toby nodded. “Profiling the heck outta them,” he confirmed. “If there’s a mole I’ll find ‘em.”

“And then we’ll never hear the end of it,” retorted Happy. “So I’d better get my head into those blueprints.”

“For the tracking device?” asked Paige and Happy nodded. “Cabe?” she looked at the older man as she said his name.

“I’m calling some of my old contacts,” he replied. “I’m working on the theory there’s more to this than just trying to bring down Cooper.”

Paige nodded. “Then we all have work to do.”

“What can I do?”

Paige turned her head at the sound of her mother’s voice. “I thought you were upstairs helping Katherine have a shower?” she said in surprise.

“I was,” replied Veronica. “But we’re done and now she’s resting. So how can I help? I want to help.”

“Take over childcare duties from Ralph,” replied Paige, coldly. “Then he can work with Walter.”

“Oh… OK,” said Veronica. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Paige had already walked off. Instead she turned to Walter. “I probably deserved that,” she said.

Walter shrugged as the others scattered towards their own desks. “I… I…” he stammered.

Veronica smiled. “It’s my own fault,” she said. “Um…” she paused to make sure no one else was in earshot before continuing. “You haven’t said anything to her, have you? About what I told you before, I mean.”

“No,” Walter confirmed. “I don’t want her worrying about you, not now. But… but _I’m_ worried. If you’re being pursued by dangerous criminals, then you’re putting us all at risk by being here.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call them dangerous criminals,” scoffed Veronica. “It’s just a little issue I need to sort out, that’s all.”

“You had reason to suspect they were trying to kill you the other day,” Walter pointed out. 

“I overreacted, that’s all,” Veronica answered, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “It’s not a problem, at least not one you need to be concerned about. Now tell me all about Richard Elia. I want to know everything, I don’t like surprises.”

Walter frowned. “He’s a… a… business associate,” he replied, not quite sure what Veronica expected him to say. “Scorpion has had dealings with him over the years. He… he’s a useful contact.”

“Is that it?” Veronica shook her head. “Come on, Walter, I want gossip! I want details!”

Walter folded his arms across his chest in a defiant gesture. 

“Then you’re asking the wrong person,” he replied.

Veronica stared at him for a moment, before walking off towards the couch where Allie and Rosa were playing pat-a-cake with Caitlin and Stella leaving Walter more confused than ever.

He turned his attention to his computer with Ralph soon joining him and together they were quickly able to hack into the Homeland accounts. Walter downloaded all the data and began scanning down the screen, but he soon realised he wasn’t paying attention to the numbers. 

“Walter!” Ralph had called his name three times already, but Walter had only just heard him. “Are you even listening to me, Walter?”

“I’m sorry, Ralph, I think I’m in need of sustenance,” he replied, blinking hard. He didn’t feel hungry, but it was the best deflection he could come up with in a hurry. “Perhaps… ice cream?”

Ralph shook his head. “Empty calories, Walter,” he said. “I’ll make you a sandwich. Cheese salad, wholemeal bread.”

Walter smiled gratefully. “Thank you,” he said and Ralph walked off towards the kitchen.

“Everything OK, son?”

Walter looked up at the sound of Cabe’s voice.

“Yes,” lied Walter. 

Cabe frowned and pulled up a chair. “What did she want before?” he asked as he sat down. He leaned towards Walter as he spoke, keeping his voice low.

“Veronica?” Walter asked, slightly taken by surprise at Cabe’s question.

“Who else?” retorted Cabe. “It looks to me like she’s rattled you. She’s stirring up trouble and I don’t like it.”

“Hmmm,” nodded Walter. “Trouble would appear accurate.”

“Listen, don’t say anything, but…” began Cabe, pausing momentarily to make certain he was sure he wanted to admit this to Walter. “She… she kinda came onto me yesterday. She was flirting with me and it… well, it was… it was… it was uncomfortable.”

Walter’s eyes widened in surprise. “Her behaviour since her arrival has been somewhat puzzling,” he concluded.

“You can say that again,” nodded Cabe. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “So… what were you talking about just now?”

“Um… um…” stammered Walter. Veronica was Paige’s mother and he didn’t want to break her trust, but on the other hand if the team – his family – were in danger because of her then he should make Cabe aware. He’d only promised not to tell Paige, anyway, he realised. He’d made no promises about anyone else. “She… she told me something in confidence. I promised I wouldn’t tell Paige.”

“Not good.”

Walter jumped at Happy’s voice behind him. He turned to see not only Happy, but Toby too. They were both staring at him with expressions that sent shivers of recognition through Walter. He would never forget the helpless feeling in the pit of his stomach as they’d both walked out on him a year and a half ago after they’d been drawn into his painful – albeit temporary – break-up with Paige. His stubbornness and his short temper had made an already messy situation worse and instead of trusting his friends and accepting their help and advice, he’d contributed to driving them away. 

They’d all moved on from that time now, of course and their friendships were stronger than they’d ever been, with both sides learning from their mistakes, but every now and again Walter would be reminded of just how close he’d come to losing everything.

“W…w…we were having a… a… a private conversation!” he exclaimed.

“Nothing’s private in this place,” Happy reminded him. 

“Don’t you both have work to do?” snapped Walter. “We’re wasting time here.”

Toby nodded. “Yeah, well profiling Homeland nerds ain’t half as much fun as watching you, One Ninety Seven,” he said. “You’re distant, you’re not concentrating and you’ve been ignoring Ralphy-Boy.”

Walter’s expression was one of horror – had his behaviour been that bad? His mind had been on other things, but he hadn’t meant for Ralph to be upset by it.

Toby grinned and slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. “Relax, pal,” he urged. “Now, let’s talk about whatever it is you’ve been lying to Paige about before all those guilt markers you’re giving out eat you alive.”

Walter gasped and shook his head vigorously. “No, no, you misunderstand,” he insisted. 

Happy folded her arms in front of her, resting them on her bump. “Lying to Paige is _bad_ , O’Brien,” she reminded him. “Let’s not go there again.”

“I haven’t been lying to Paige,” Walter pleased. “That is… I haven’t _technically_ been lying to Paige.”

“Oh well, that’s OK then!” exclaimed Toby, rolling his eyes and throwing his arms in the air in despair. “And I’m sure the lovely Miss Dineen will be fine with it when the truth comes out in some kinda ugly, messy way like it’s bound to eventually. Right?”

Walter sighed and looked to Cabe for some kind of back-up.

Cabe shook his head. “Sorry, son,” he said. “But I’m with the Doc and Happy. You can’t afford to let Veronica of all people screw up things with Paige.”

Walter nodded slowly. He knew Cabe – and Toby and Happy – were right. “OK,” he finally conceded. “It could be nothing, anyway,” he continued, with a dismissive gesture. “Veronica suggested as much herself.”

Happy pressed her lips together and swallowed her anger. She’d hoped, after everything that had happened over the last few years, that Walter had learnt a few lessons. Now she was worried that all the progress he’d made – all the progress he and Paige had made together – would be shattered by Paige’s wayward mother. 

“Spill, Walt,” she demanded. 

For a moment she contemplated going straight to Veronica to get the details, but then she felt Toby slip his hand into hers and squeeze tightly. His way of telling her to cool it, she realised and she swallowed hard as her anger subsided… at least a little. 

Walter opened his mouth to speak, but before he’d managed to get any words out, he was interrupted by Paige.

“Where’s my Mom?” she asked, looking around the garage as she walked over to Walter’s desk.

“I don’t know,” replied Walter, quickly. “W…w…why would I know?”

“And I don’t know either, kid,” added Cabe, just as quickly.

Paige narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Care to tell me what you’re all huddled over here for?”

“Walter?” prompted Toby. “The lady wants an answer.”

Walter said nothing.

Paige let out a sigh of frustration. “Never mind,” she snapped. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now I want to know where Mom is. I thought she was upstairs with Katherine, but I just checked and she’s not there.”

“Did you check the Airstream?” asked Ralph, walking back with the sandwich he’d made for Walter.

“I was just about to,” replied Paige. “But why would she be hiding in there when we’re all out here?”

“Peace and quiet?” suggested Happy. As much as she loved her daughters, it was hard to work with all the noise two toddlers – and their toys – produced.

Paige shrugged and walked off towards the trailer, with Walter and Ralph following her. She knocked on the door, but there was no response. 

“Mom?” she called. “You in there?”

Nothing. 

Paige pulled the handle and opened the door. “Mom?” she called again as she stepped inside. “Are you…?” but she stopped short and quickly stuck her head back out of the doorway. “She’s gone!” she exclaimed and she stepped back out into the garage. “Her bags… all her things are gone too. She’s done it again, Walter! She’s left me again!”

The rest of the team ran over as Walter pulled her into a hug. “Paige… Paige…” he began and Paige lifted her head as she picked up on the anxiousness in his voice. 

Walter glanced over his shoulder at Cabe and Toby before continuing. “Paige, there’s… there’s something I need to tell you.”


	6. Search and Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search is on for Veronica and Paige is not dealing with it very well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I can't believe it's been over a month since I updated this story. Where did 2019 go? I'm sorry I've kept you all waiting, I hope you still want to follow this story to its conclusion. I'll try not to take so long to write the next chapter! All comments welcome, thank you kindly._

“She told you what? Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Walter? We don’t keep secrets, remember?”

Walter swallowed hard. He’d been expecting this reaction from Paige and he felt he deserved it. Keeping this from her had been a mistake, he realised that now. 

“Paige, y…y…your Mom didn’t want you to know,” he explained. “She… she didn’t want you to worry about her. She assured me there was nothing to worry about anyway.”

“Wait,” Paige responded, standing with her hands on her hips. “So, she didn’t want me to worry about something that’s nothing to worry about? That makes no sense, Walter.”

“I… I…” stammered Walter. Paige was right, of course, it did make no sense, but then very little to do with Veronica Dineen ever did. “I… I thought I was doing the right thing.”

Paige sighed. She didn’t know how to feel at this moment. She was angry with Walter for lying to her… after all they’d been through… but somehow that didn’t matter. Right now the feelings of hurt and loss at her mother’s sudden departure far outweighed her disappointment at Walter’s behaviour. The sudden resurgence of feelings she hadn’t experienced for years was almost overwhelming.

Toby looked at her with concern and willed her to hold herself together, at least until they could confirm Veronica was safe. 

“Ralph,” said Walter, with a sudden urgency to his voice. “Run a trace on her cell.”

“It’ll take me a little while,” answered Ralph. At Walter’s confused frown, he continued. “When she left last time I put a scrambler on her phone so it couldn’t be traced by anyone who might be, y’know, looking for her. Just in case.”

“Smart thinking,” replied Walter, flashing Ralph a brief, proud smile. “It’s OK, it won’t take you long to get past it.”

Ralph nodded and ran to get his tablet.

“I’ll call the airport.” Cabe had pulled his phone from his pocket before he’d even finished speaking. “And the bus station and…”

“Stop!”

Paige’s cry had the response she had hoped for as everyone froze and looked up at her.

“Please!” she begged. “Just stop. She’s gone. I know how this works, I’ve been through it before, remember? She doesn’t want to be found.”

Toby stepped forward. “Paige, I think this is different,” he said. “Something just doesn’t feel right. She didn’t give me anything to suggest she was a flight risk.”

Happy turned to look at him. “You sure you got that right, Doc?” she asked. “Not that I’m doubting your skills, husband, but…”

Toby frowned at her. “I know she’s tough to read sometimes,” he admitted. “And her behaviour’s been kooky since she got here, but I’m telling you, she was happy and relaxed this morning.” He turned to address Paige directly. “She’s loved being here with you and Ralph these past few days,” he insisted. 

Paige rolled her eyes. “Could’ve fooled me,” she replied dryly.

“I guess she was kinda looking forward to her date with Tricky Dicky,” noted Happy.

“Ritchie Rich?” offered Toby. Then a grin spread across his face. “Or, Randy Ritchie!”

“Gross!” exclaimed Happy and Ralph in unison.

“I’m not sure what purpose is served by nicknames,” said Walter, with a puzzled frown. “But we’re wasting time here.”

“Agreed,” nodded Cabe. “Let’s get out there, she can’t have gotten too far just yet.”

“Paige,” began Walter. “You’re with me and…”

But Toby interrupted him. “Bad idea, One Ninety Seven,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “You take Cabe, Paige can ride with me.”

“Since when did you…” Walter began to object, but now it was Cabe’s turn to interrupt.

“The Doc’s right,” said the older man. The last thing they needed was Walter and Paige at each other’s throats. That would have to wait until they knew Veronica was safe. “Two cars, standard search grid,” he continued. “You and me, son and then Paige and Toby. The rest of you stay here. Ralph, do your thing and if you get a hit on your grandma’s location you let me know.”

Happy crossed to her desk and pulled out the familiar case of earpieces. “Comms in,” she said, opening the lid and offering them to the team.

Paige took a deep breath as she pressed her earpiece into her right ear. Her Mom had abandoned her so many times in the past, she should feel numb to it, but she couldn’t feel numb. Not this time, not now after the pieces of her life were finally falling into place. How could this be happening again?

But maybe Toby was right? Maybe this time it was different? Paige didn’t know how to feel about that possibility though. She knew how to feel when her mother left her without warning - she’d been there too many times before - but she didn’t know how to feel about the idea that there might be a good, potentially _dangerous_ reason for Veronica’s disappearance this time. Her head was spinning and she felt like she wanted to either scream, or curl up into a ball until it was all over.

“Paige?”

It was Toby’s voice. Not Toby’s stupid jerk voice, she realised, it was his professional voice. Paige knew she must be displaying a whole host of signals that gave away her inner turmoil to his highly trained skills and she tried desperately to retain control.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Come on, let’s go.”

Toby and Cabe exchanged a worried glance as they headed towards the cars, but they didn’t have time to talk about their concerns for Paige and Walter now. Minutes later they were out in the LA traffic and their only focus was finding Veronica.

Cabe and Walter headed downtown. Cabe kept his SUV at a steady speed, while Walter’s eyes were fixed on the surroundings. 

“You OK, Son?”

“Huh?”

Cabe slipped his comm from his ear so he could talk privately to Walter. “I said, are you OK,” he repeated.

“Oh,” replied Walter, removing his own earpiece in a copycat motion, although he wasn’t sure he was in the right frame of mind for a private conversation with Cabe. “Yes.”

“Is that it?” snapped Cabe. He immediately wished he hadn’t let his frustration show and shot Walter an apologetic glance.

“Um, yes, that’s it. I'm OK, Cabe,” Walter replied. He recognised that Cabe was expecting more, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to say. “I’m concerned for… for Veronica’s safety,” he added, hoping that would satisfy the older man for now.

The lights went green and Cabe pulled away. The low hum of the engine was barely noticeable to him as he drove, but Walter had fixated on the sound. He quickly calculated the decibel level, making a mental note to speak to Happy about fine tuning the engine. 

“Y'know, Walter,” began Cabe, aware that Walter was deliberately occupying his mind with anything to avoid conversation. “A lot's happened in the last eighteen months,” he continued. “This isn't the same as before. Sure, Paige is mad and yes, you shouldn't have kept Veronica's little revelation to yourself, but...”

“It wasn't a revelation,” Walter corrected him. “She simply shared a... a... a concern for her own safety with me about which she subsequently changed her mind, rendering it irrelevant.”

“Not sure Paige sees it like that,” noted Cabe. “Anyway, what I'm trying to say is once we know Veronica's safe, Paige will calm down and you two can talk through this. You're so much better at that kinda stuff now. You'll be fine.”

Walter stared at Cabe. He desperately wanted to believe his words and he responded with what he hoped was a casual nod, but inside he was terrified. Terrified of losing Paige. 

It was just too unbearable to contemplate.

“Cabe, have you considered proposing to Allie?” he asked, suddenly.

“Proposing?” repeated Cabe, stunned by the sudden line of questioning.

“Marriage.”

“I guessed that much,” replied Cabe, rolling his eyes. “And, um, yeah, I have. Allie and I have talked about getting married a few times, but we both kinda figured we’re OK as we are for now.”

“Hmmm.”

“Why?” asked Cabe. “Are you… are you gonna ask Paige to marry you?”

“I… I intend to. One day,” replied Walter. 

Cabe’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow, Walter, that’s… that’s great!” he said. Then his eyes narrowed. “Is this what the weekend away is for?” he asked. “Are you planning to…”

“What? No!” exclaimed Walter, interrupting him. “Not at all. I… I… I booked this weekend away in order to… um… to facilitate intimacy without interruption.”

Walter felt his face flush red as he spoke. He desperately wanted to be alone with Paige. It was even more important now. He wanted to talk to her, of course - to apologise - but also he wanted to show her how much he loved her. He knew they were good at it. 

Intimacy. Making love. Sex. 

Whatever Paige wanted to call it, they were good at it. They always had been, even when their relationship had almost fallen apart. In those first few weeks and months after they’d rekindled their romance, Walter had realised that no matter how badly he’d struggled to _tell her_ how he felt, how hard he’d fought to express himself with words, he could always _show her_ how he felt.

Cabe chuckled. “I get it,” he said. “You’re trying for a baby. I remember what that was like,” he added with a wink. “I remember once Rebecca and I were at the airport and…”

Walter tensed. He really didn’t want to hear the rest of this story and he deliberately showed Cabe the tiny comm device between his thumb and forefinger before putting it back into his ear. Just as he did so, he heard Ralph’s voice. 

_“I've got a location!”_

Paige's anxious voice came back almost immediately. _“Where is she?”_

 _“At the beach. At least, her phone's at the beach,”_ replied Ralph. _“I'll text you and Walter the coordinates.”_

Walter sat up a little straighter and watched as the message appeared on his phone. “We're at least fifteen minutes away,” he responded. “Paige? Toby? Are you closer?”

_“Three minutes, tops,” replied Toby._

Cabe exchanged a glance with Walter. “We'll meet you there,” he said he slammed on the brakes and spun the SUV around.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“Why did you bring your med bag?”

Paige’s heart was pounding as she leapt out of her car and inhaled a deep breath of sea air. She’d insisted on driving, despite Toby’s protests and now she’d parked the car badly across two marked bays, but she didn’t care. Her Mom was here somewhere and she was mad and scared at the same time. She glared at Toby, realising he hadn’t answered her question yet.

Toby shut the car door and swung his bag over his shoulder. “Because I like to accessorise,” he replied, with a smirk.

“You think she could be hurt, don’t you,” pressed Paige as she and Toby headed towards the sand at a brisk pace. She didn’t really want to hear his answer. Veronica had told Walter she thought she might be in danger – even if she had seemed to change her mind since then - so there was no way of knowing if she was hurt or not.

Or worse.

Or, of course, she might not even be here at all. They might just find her phone lying in the sand and Paige didn’t know how she’d react if that happened.

“Hey,” said Toby, reaching out and grabbing her hand in a supportive gesture as they walked. He nodded towards the bag on his shoulder. “Just in case, OK?”

Paige nodded appreciatively. “Ralph, you still with us?” she called out.

 _“Right here, Mom,”_ replied Ralph from the garage. _“You’re close, you should be able to see her now. Can you see her?”_

Paige stopped walking and looked from left to right, squinting slightly as she scanned the beach. It was late in the afternoon and many of the people who would have been there earlier enjoying the sun, or catching a few waves, had already left. Paige saw a young couple kissing under a parasol, a group of five women around her age lying on colourful towels and a family of five enjoying a beach volleyball game.

But no Veronica.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” she asked Ralph. “I can’t see… oh, wait.”

Paige let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and pointed across the sand. Veronica was sitting on the sand beside a large rock with her bags at her feet and before Toby could acknowledge her, Paige had slipped out of her shoes and started running towards her mother.

Toby immediately followed her. “Nice work, Ralphy-Boy,” he said as he picked up his pace. He couldn’t really tell from this distance, but Veronica appeared unhurt and he allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

Paige dropped to her knees beside Veronica. “Mom!” she exclaimed.

Veronica turned her head slowly. “Oh, hi, sweetie,” she said, just as a slightly out of breath Toby reached her.

Veronica’s casual greeting stunned Paige and she tried to respond, but she couldn’t form a sentence. Paige had so many questions to ask her, but she didn’t know where to start. Why did she leave? Why did she think someone was trying to kill her? Did she have any idea how her own daughter was feeling right now?

No, of course she didn’t, Paige realised. She’d never had any idea, not once, not any of those times she’d left in the past. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Paige finally exploded. 

Veronica smiled warmly. “Do you remember when we used to come to the beach?” she asked.

“What?” replied Paige, incredulously. “No, Mom, I don’t remember… because it never happened!” Paige shook her head in disbelief. Then a memory flashed into her head. “No, wait,” she said. “There was one time I remember we came to the beach and you made me run crying to the ice cream seller and tell him I was lost so I’d get a free ice cream because we never did anything together unless it was a scam!”

“Oh,” replied Veronica. She turned to Toby and her brow furrowed. “Oh,” she repeated.

Toby was growing concerned by her behaviour. She was acting completely out of character – the Veronica Dineen he knew would never have let Paige’s words go without fighting back, but she seemed more confused by them than anything else. He sat himself down cross legged on the sand next to her. “Hey,” he said, gently. “Do you remember how you got here?”

Paige threw her arms in the air in despair. “Does it matter?” she asked. “I just want to know why! Why, Mom? Why did you leave?” Her voice cracked, but she gritted her teeth and continued, even louder now. “You always leave me! Why?”

“Paige,” began Toby, shooting her a warning look. “Now’s not a good time.”

“Really?” retorted Paige, with a sneer. “When is a good time, then, Toby, huh? When is a good time for my mother to tell me why she abandoned me? Over and over again! Do you have any idea what that feels like?” She turned back to Veronica. “Do you?” she yelled.

Toby reached out and grasped Paige’s forearm. “Paige…”

She shrugged him off. “No, Toby, I’m not letting this go. You remember what a mess I was eighteen months ago? I can’t go there again, I won’t, I refuse to go there again, but I can feel it bubbling away in the back of my mind and it’s all because of her!” 

Paige felt the tears stinging her eyes, but she couldn’t stop. It was as if years and years of hurt had manifested themselves into something tangible and Paige had a very, _very_ firm grasp of it for the first time in her life. She glared at Veronica. The older woman hadn’t said a word, but her uncharacteristic silence hadn’t registered with Paige. 

“I _needed_ you, Mom! I was just a kid, how could you have been so selfish? Did you ever think about what you were doing to me? And now you've done it again! I was a fool to think you could change, I was a fool to think you could be a real mother to me. So many times I needed you and you weren’t there and now every time I need someone – like I need Walter – I’m just waiting for them to walk out on me, just like you did. Every single time! Walter doesn’t deserve that, Mom. You screwed with my head and it’s always going to be there, eating away at me. Even the best shrink in the world can’t fix me!”

Toby grabbed her arm again. “Paige, enough,” he commanded. “Take a breath, or take a walk.”

Paige gasped at the seriousness in Toby’s voice and immediately fell silent. Her breathing was heavy and she fought to calm herself down.

“But, er, thanks,” Toby added.

Paige shot him a confused look.

“For ‘The Best Shrink in the World’,” clarified Toby with a wink.

Paige rolled her eyes.

“But really,” added Toby, all the seriousness back in his voice. “I think you’ve said enough.” He tapped his right ear with his forefinger and raised his eyebrows in a knowing gesture. 

Paige gasped. “Ralph...” she whispered and she felt her throat constricting and sweat started to bead at her temples. Of course the team would have heard every word over the comms. Including her son.

Veronica, however, appeared oblivious to Paige’s outburst. She stared out across the ocean, blinking slowly, seemingly mesmerised by the waves rolling in. 

It was then that Paige suddenly realised that her mother’s behaviour was far from normal and she forced herself to push all thoughts of Ralph aside for now. “Mom?” she said, but Veronica did not reply. 

“Hey,” said Toby, addressing Veronica. “Hey,” he said again and this time she turned her head. “There you go,” he said, with a grin, relieved that she’d responded to him. “Now, I need you to focus for a second, can you answer a couple questions for me?”

“Sure,” replied Veronica with a slow nod. She looked down as Toby checked the pulse in her left wrist, but didn’t query his action.

Paige almost asked him to check hers too as her heartbeat began to pound in her chest. “Toby, what’s wrong, is she sick?” Paige asked him.

It hadn’t crossed her mind that there might be something wrong with her mom and Paige fell back onto her haunches, steadying herself with her hands as a wave of panic coursed through her.

“Not quite sure yet,” admitted Toby. Then he turned his attention back to Paige’s mother. “You still with me?” he asked. Adding, “Good,” when she nodded. “So,” he continued. “Do you remember, maybe, hitting your head this morning?” he asked.

Veronica thought for a moment before answering simply. “No.”

“OK, OK,” replied Toby as his mind ran through other possibilities. He gently lifted her upper eyelids with his thumb – first one then the other – squinting as he studied her dilated pupils. “So, I need to ask this and there’s a good chance you might whack me when you’re feeling better, but are you… are you using anything right now? Drugs, I mean?”

“Toby!” exclaimed Paige.

Toby looked at her with sympathy. “I gotta ask,” he explained.

Paige knew he did, of course, but the thought that her Mom’s weird behaviour had anything to do with drugs… 

Oh god, maybe she was an addict? Maybe she’d come back desperate for her daughter’s help and all Paige had done was push her away and now… 

No. 

Paige closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “She’s not on drugs, Toby,” she insisted.

“What about prescription meds?” asked Toby, looking at Veronica expectantly for an answer.

“Umm… meds?” Veronica replied, her face falling into a puzzled frown. “No… no… um… yes… my pills…yes…”

Paige wasn’t prepared to wait another second. She needed to know what was going on and she needed to know right now. She grabbed Veronica’s bag and emptied it onto the sand.

Paige rifled through the contents of the bag - sunglasses, make-up, packets of chewing gum and a dog-eared romance novel. Then she saw the pills. Two small bottles with printed labels. She picked them up and handed them to Toby.

Toby quickly read the labels and glanced at Paige. “I think I know what’s going on here,” he said. 

“What?” demanded Paige. “Tell me, Toby!”

“Don’t worry,” he tried to reassure her. “It’s easily fixed. Let’s get your Mom back to the garage.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“They’ve been in there for ages.” Ralph glanced over his shoulder towards the trailer for what seemed like the hundredth time since the others had arrived back at the garage with his grandma.

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” Cabe tried to reassure him. “The Doc knows what he’s doing. If it was anything serious they’d be at the hospital by now.”

When Cabe and Walter had arrived at the beach, they’d found Paige and Toby leading a dazed looking Veronica off the sand and Cabe had found it disconcerting to see her in that state.

Paige had said something about her mother’s medication – which Cabe knew nothing about – and Toby had made a few quips to try to lighten the situation as they’d helped Veronica into the car, but Cabe was sure he simply been trying to distract Paige from worrying too much.

Now the rest of the team – minus Allie who had taken Rosa and the twins to Kovelsky's – were gathered around the table. Even Katherine had ventured downstairs and she slipped her arm around the teenage genius. 

“Y’know, Ralph,” she said. “Your Grandma has been doing a real good job of taking care of me these past few days. She has some crazy ideas, but she really cares.”

Ralph smiled at her. “That’s Grandma,” he replied, proudly. Then his smile faded. “I just wish Mom could see it. All that stuff Grandma did years ago… it’s in the past now. She needs to get over it.”

“Hey,” said Happy. “It’s not as easy as that. My Dad left me at an orphanage when I was three years old. It ain’t the kind of thing you just leave in the past.”

Ralph looked at her. “But you and your Dad are cool now, right?”

“Yeah,” agreed Happy, nodding slowly. “But it’ll always be there. I love my Dad and I love having him back in my life, but it doesn’t change what he did. I guess… I guess I just found a way to live with it. But me and your Mom are different, Ralphy. _Very different._ And she needs to find her own way somehow.”

Ralph sighed. “I thought she already had,” he admitted, sadly.

“I think…” began Walter, a little hesitantly. “I think she just needs more time.”

Cabe raised his eyebrows in surprise and nodded in approval at Walter’s comment. When Cabe had first reconnected with Walter, almost seven years ago now, the genius would never have entertained the idea of giving someone “time” to come to terms with an emotional situation. He would have considered such things to be inefficient. But Walter had changed, he’d made so much progress and the development of his EQ never ceased to amaze Cabe. 

Finally, the door of the trailer opened and Paige stepped out.

Ralph got to his feet to greet her, but she waved her hand in front of her in what she hoped was a calming gesture. “Grandma’s fine, Ralph,” she said as she walked over to join them all. She took a deep breath and looked at the assembled group. “So, Mom has a condition… um, I’ve already forgotten what it’s called, I guess Toby can tell you… but she’s taking two different types of meds and, well, Toby thinks she took the wrong dose this morning. It looks like she took a double dose of one of her pills and didn’t take the other one at all and I guess it messed with her head.”

“Hell,” responded Happy. “But she’s OK now, right?”

Paige nodded. “Toby’s just making sure, but she seems back to her old self.”

“That’s good news,” said Walter with relief. It didn’t really explain everything, but at least it explained her disappearing act. There were more questions to be answered, he was certain of that, but at least for now Paige knew her Mom was safe and hadn’t abandoned her again. 

“Um, I, er…” began Paige, but she couldn’t form a sentence. She was acutely aware that everyone had heard her outburst at the beach and she wished she could take back the hurtful things she'd said. Every word was burned into her mind and it hurt to think. “Walter, can I talk to you in private?” she said eventually.

Walter got to his feet and, with a quick glance at Cabe, he walked with Paige to the back of the garage where they were out of earshot of the rest of the team. “You want to cancel our weekend plans,” he said, before she had a chance to speak. “I understand.”

“No!” Paige exclaimed. “No, I still want to go. I _need_ to go, Walter. I just… I know you all heard me. Ralph… everyone… you all heard the things I said to Mom. And… and I know it must have reminded you of… of when I…” she trailed off and sighed deeply. “Come on, Walter,” she said. “Don’t make me spell it out to you. I’m so sorry.”

Walter didn’t say a word. He just pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. 

Paige drew strength from him and allowed herself to feel safe and secure. In that moment she knew, probably for the first time she knew for sure that he had forgiven her for all the hurt she’d caused him. “I love you, Walter,” she whispered.

“Reciprocated.”


	7. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paige and Walter get away from it all while Veronica prepares for her romantic evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _It's been too long since I posted a new chapter. I promise I will never abandon this story! I'm ever hopeful that I'll be able to update more frequently soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this chapter. All comments very gratefully received, thank you kindly!_

“Hey, you guys!”

Sylvester leapt out of his seat as Walter and Paige arrived at the garage with Ralph the next morning. He high-fived Ralph as the younger genius headed straight for the kitchen to look for snacks. 

“Hey... oh!” Paige exclaimed as Sylvester threw his arms around her.

“I'm so sorry,” said Sylvester, breaking away from her to speak. “I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I heard what happened with your Mom and...”

“It’s OK,” Paige interrupted him. “We found her quickly enough.” She paused to glance around, relieved to see only Toby in the kitchen with her son. “Is... is she...OK this morning?”

“I think so,” answered Sylvester. “She's up in the loft with Cooper.”

Paige nodded and let out a slow breath. She knew she needed to talk to her mother, but she didn't want to do it now. Maybe Veronica had been too spaced out yesterday to take in what Paige had said to her on the beach, but Paige had shocked herself at the words that had come tumbling out of her mouth and she didn't know how to process what she was feeling. Right now all she wanted was to get on the road with Walter and get to their hotel. She'd never felt the need to get away for a few days as much as she did at this moment. 

“Sly,” began Walter, “I emailed you some files, I need you to...”

“I'll get onto that right away,” Sylvester jumped in. 

“But... but I haven't told you what I...” began Walter with a frown.

“I'll figure it out,” Sylvester assured him. “I'm sorry I wasn't here yesterday.”

Walter's frown deepened. “You've already apologised,” he pointed out. 

“I apologised to Paige,” Sylvester clarified. “Now I'm apologising to you because I missed a day's work. Please dock my pay. In fact, dock two days.”

“Sly!” exclaimed Paige. “Walter's not docking your pay! I think you work enough extra hours already, you've got it covered. Right, Walter?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, of course,” replied Walter, although he didn't sound at all convinced. 

“Once more with feeling, One Ninety Seven?” suggested Toby, striding across the garage to join them with a grin on his face.

Walter scowled at him. 

“Toby,” said Paige, grabbing the Doc by the arm. “I need to talk to you.” And she marched him away in the opposite direction before he could say or do anything else to push Walter's buttons.

Walter watched them go and then turned back to Sylvester. “I... I know I don't always show it,” he began. “But I do appreciate everything you do for me and for Scorpion.”

Sylvester smiled broadly. ”I know,” he replied, blushing slightly. 

“And... and I understand you're dealing with a lot right now,” Walter continued. “So if you need any more time off, or... or if there's anything else I can do to help... please, just say so.”

Sylvester stood quietly for a moment, fighting to quell a rush of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Then he stepped forward and pulled Walter into a huge bear hug. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

“Wow! This room’s huge!”

Paige stood just over the threshold of their hotel room, taking a moment to absorb the luxurious surroundings that would be their home for the next two nights.

“It was the best value, in terms of square footage per dollar, for hotels in this price bracket,” Walter responded. “I’m glad you like it.”

Paige giggled. It was such a typical response from him. Had he even been aware of the antique furniture in this room before he booked this hotel? The luxury fixtures and fittings? The complimentary Champagne that was sitting invitingly in a silver ice bucket, with two crystal glasses standing beside it? Of course not. 

But she didn’t care. She turned and surprised him with a kiss. “I love it,” she said. “This is going to be a great weekend!”

Walter smiled and pulled their small suitcase into the room before closing the door behind them. He paused for a moment to watch Paige as she began to inspect the room. She had been quiet on the journey – not silent, they’d chatted a little about unimportant things – but it had been obvious even to Walter that her mind was elsewhere. 

Paige had talked to Toby for about half an hour before they’d set off on their journey and Walter wanted to ask if the Doc had been able to put her mind at rest about what was happening with her mother, but he didn’t want to pry. She’d tell him in her own time, he realised.

Paige grabbed the restaurant menu and sat back on the bed. The pillows and cushions behind her head felt so comfortable and for a moment she thought about closing her eyes, but then she realised how hungry she was and her eyes returned to the menu.

“There’s a huge choice of fish for you on this menu,” she began. “We should call down and make a reservation.”

“What?”

“For dinner!”

“Oh…yes,” agreed Walter.

Paige looked up at him, about to ask what time he wanted to eat, but before she could speak he produced a small package from behind his back and thrust it into her arms.

“Walter!” exclaimed Paige with a delighted smile on her face. The package was delicately wrapped with tissue paper and ribbon and a gold bow was placed neatly in the centre. 

Lingerie, thought Paige. Walter never bought her lingerie, but what else could it be? This really was going to be a great weekend!

She began carefully opening the package.

“I… I need to use the bathroom,” announced Walter before she’d even removed the ribbon.

“I’m not surprised,” Paige called after him. “I told you to go at the gas station like I did.”

She chuckled as she thought about his insistence that the additional time it would have taken for him to use the tiny bathroom after he’d filled the gas tank when they were less than half an hour away from the hotel would have been inefficient.

Paige quickly removed the rest of the wrapping from her gift and lifted the contents. 

Then her face fell. 

It wasn’t lingerie at all, it was… an apron. A plain, white, apron with a large pocket on the front. 

“What the hell…? Walter…?”

At that moment Walter emerged from the bathroom and Paige’s mouth fell open. She sat bolt upright on the bed as her brain tried to process the sight that met her eyes.

Walter was dressed in just his boxers… and a high-vis vest and hard hat. He strode purposely across the room and stopped a few feet in front of her. 

“I’d like to order a coffee, please,” he said.

His voice was stilted, almost robotic and Paige was totally bemused.

“Do you want me to order room service?” she asked, screwing up her nose in confusion.

Walter took two steps forward. “Um… no,” he replied. “I’d like you to get me a coffee, p…please, waitress.”

“Waitress?” repeated Paige. She was beginning to wonder if he’d lost his mind. “Walter, I have no idea what you’re…” began Paige, but she was so confused she couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Walter let out a sigh. “You’re supposed to be wearing the apron,” he hissed, as if worried that someone else might hear him.

There was a moment of silence, then suddenly the realisation hit her. “Oh… my… oh my god!” Paige exclaimed and her puzzled expression was replaced by one of excitement and disbelief. “You’re role-playing!”

Walter nodded. “Yes, yes,” he agreed, emphatically. “I’m a construction worker. I assumed you would have figured that out.”

“Well, I… I mean I just didn’t expect…” began Paige and she hurriedly tied the apron around her waist. Her mind was racing and the huge smile already on her face grew even wider. “I just can’t believe you…”

“It works for Happy and Toby,” Walter explained. “They talk about it often… too often. I thought it might be worth a try.”

“Oh, yes,” replied Paige, leaping to her feet and grabbing the hotel branded notepaper and pen from the bedside table. “Definitely worth a try. Now, what can I get you? Just a coffee?”

Walter cleared his throat and got back into character. “Yes, please.”

Paige smiled coyly at him. “Take a seat at this table,” she responded, nodding towards the bed. “I’ll just get this. You must be so tired after all that construction work you’ve done today.”

“Um… indeed.” Walter wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do now, but he was prepared to do anything to make Paige happy and this plan seemed to be working so he decided to follow her lead.

Paige turned away briefly and then almost immediately turned back, her hands held out in front of her. Walter assumed was holding an imaginary cup of coffee and he reached out and pretended to take it from her. 

So far he was not feeling at all sexy. 

Maybe this had been a mistake after all? Toby was always so enthusiastic when he spoke about how he and Happy incorporated role play into their love life that Walter had assumed he and Paige could make it work. 

What was meant to happen next, though? He smiled awkwardly at Paige and pretended to sip his imaginary coffee.

Paige smiled back at him. “Remember that time you showed those drama students a thing or two about Shakespeare? This is the same thing, it’s just acting,” she said. “Relax, you’re good at this,” she added with a wink. 

Her reassurance was enough for now and he nodded and let out a breath.

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything else?” offered Paige, slipping easily back into character. Then she sat on his lap. “I can offer you the special?” she suggested, sucking her lower lip in between her teeth. 

Walter put down his imaginary coffee cup. “Will I like the special?” he asked.

She smelled of lavender, as she always did and Walter’s heartrate increased rapidly as he allowed his senses to absorb her closeness.

“Oh yes, you’ll love it,” replied Paige. She swung one leg over until she was straddling him and then she pressed her lips to his. “You’ll love it,” she repeated, breathlessly. “Buckle up, construction worker.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“Maybe I should’ve worn the other one?”

Katherine couldn’t help but laugh at Veronica’s agitated state. “Relax,” she urged. “The dress is fine. You look great. Richard Elia’s not gonna know what hit him.”

Veronica sighed and began to wonder if this had all been a mistake. She’d only met Richard once, very briefly and yet now here she was preparing for their date. She rarely felt this flustered about anything – she could usually walk into any situation oozing confidence and get exactly what she wanted - but this was different. 

This was real. 

It wasn’t a con, it was honest and truthful… and that’s exactly why she was so scared.

“Thanks,” she said. “Now, are you sure you don’t need anything else?”

“I’ll be fine,” replied Katherine. “I’ve got snacks, drinks and the movie channels. Everything I need for a great evening. And don’t worry, I’ll be using those noise cancelling headphones Happy gave me so you and Richard will have complete privacy.”

Veronica laughed. “I don’t think we’ll be doing anything… y’know… _noisy_!” she said.

Katherine shrugged. “You never know,” she replied.

Then suddenly the security alarm went off and both women clasped their hands over their ears.

“Jeez!” exclaimed Veronica. “I thought Walter said they were going to turn that thing down!”

She raced over to deactivate the device, glancing at the monitor first to make sure it really was Richard’s arrival that had set off the alert. 

“Nice car,” noted Katherine as the garage doors opened and the black Corvette pulled in. 

Veronica nodded. She’d been impressed with the Lamborghini, but the Corvette was even more beautiful. And expensive. Paige had mentioned Richard had a fleet of cars at his disposal, but seeing this one in the flesh made her tingle with excitement. 

Or maybe it wasn’t the car that was making her tingle? 

She gasped as Richard stepped out of the car. Last time she’d seen him he’d been in casual clothes – expensive casual clothes, but casual nonetheless. This time he had dressed for the occasion in smart black trousers, and a light blue shirt and he looked… _good_! He had a jacket draped over one arm and he carried a bottle of wine in the other hand as he strode across the garage.

Katherine squeezed Veronica’s arm encouragingly. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said, with a mischievous wink and then with a friendly wave to Richard, she headed up to the loft.

“Was it something I said?” asked Richard, handing the bottle to Veronica.

Veronica laughed. “No, she’s fine, just a little tired,” she explained. “And I guess she didn’t want to play gooseberry this evening.”

Richard chuckled. “Well, I’m glad,” he replied. He hesitated for a moment before leaning in to kiss Veronica on the cheek.

Veronica turned her head a little awkwardly and let out a high pitched noise as his lips touched her cheek. Then she blushed hard. This was ridiculous, she thought to herself. She felt like a teenager again. 

_Pull yourself together, Dineen!_

She glanced at the bottle of wine in her hand. “Oh, Italian!” she exclaimed. “I love Italian wine. Shall I get some glasses?”

“Unless you want to swig it from the bottle,” replied Richard with a wink.

Veronica’s knees almost buckled and she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips.

“I spent some time at a vineyard in Italy a while back,” she began, regaining her composure as she headed towards the kitchen. “I was running wine tasting tours, they were really popular.” 

She grabbed a corkscrew from the drawer and was about to start opening the wine when Richard took it from her.

“Let me,” he said.

Veronica just smiled. She was perfectly capable of removing the cork herself, but in that moment she was quite content to let him do it for her. 

“So,” continued Richard. “Which region?”

“Huh?”

“In Italy,” Richard clarified. “Which wine region?”

“Oh, right. Piedmont,” replied Veronica. “It was beautiful there, I would have stayed longer – the tour business was really successful.”

“Why did you leave?” Just as he finished his question, Richard pulled the cork from the wine bottle with a loud ‘pop’ sound.

“Oh, um, well, let’s just say the owners of the vineyard weren’t too happy when they found out about my tour business,” explained Veronica, placing two wine glasses onto the worktop.

“They didn’t know?” 

“No,” admitted Veronica. 

She began to wish she hadn’t told him this story. She wanted him to know the truth about her past, but perhaps she should have at least waited until they’d sat down to eat? 

“Then things got kinda messy… turns out they were _connected_.”

Richard was shocked and he momentarily stopped pouring the wine. “Mafia?”

Veronica nodded. “Yup,” she replied. “I had to skip town in a hurry.” She glanced up at him. “Told you I had a colourful history,” she said, with a shrug.

Richard finished pouring the wine and handed one glass to Veronica. “Do you do that kind of thing often?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” replied Veronica. “And don’t tell me you haven’t Googled my name already.”

Richard chuckled. “I may have done that,” he admitted. “But the most interesting thing I discovered about you was that you’re dead.”

“Oh, yes, that,” Veronica acknowledged. “Long story. I am officially dead, that’s true. Paige and Walter and the team helped me with that one, got me out of a sticky situation.”

“Another one?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause. Veronica half expected Richard to turn and walk away, but he didn’t. She looked into his eyes – damn, he had beautiful eyes…

“Dinner smells delicious.” Richard’s casual comment punctured the silence and for a moment Veronica didn’t know how to respond.

Eventually she answered. “I hope you like South American cuisine?”

“Love it,” he replied. “I take it you’ve spent some time down there?”

“Ecuador, mostly,” she replied. “And a little while in Argentina – boy, Argentinian aristocrats know a thing or two about throwing a party. Lucky for me they don’t seem to know much about investments. Oh and Venezuela, but that’s a story for another day. Shall we eat? I thought we’d go up to the roof.”

Richard nodded. “It’s a beautiful evening,” he acknowledged. “Sounds perfect.”

xXxXxXxXxXx

“He’s taking you to _where_ next week?”

Veronica blushed and a broad grin spread across her face as she Katherine’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

“Avec Nous,” replied Veronica, spreading butter on her breakfast bagel as she spoke. “It’s in Beverley Hills.”

“I know where it is!” responded Katherine. She stirred some honey into her oatmeal and nodded approvingly. “I take it last night went well.”

“To be honest, there were times when I thought it was a disaster,” Veronica admitted. “I just couldn’t stop talking about myself. About my life… my old life, I mean. Abandoning my family, going to prison, all that stuff I used to do before. It felt more like therapy than a date.”

“It didn’t put him off asking you on a second date, though,” noted Katherine.

“He said that I was one of the most interesting people he’d ever met and he wanted to get to know me better,” she said, trying to make it sound casual, even though her heart was fluttering with excitement. “He said I should be proud of the way I’ve turned my life around.”

“He’s right, you should be,” agreed Katherine.

Veronica shrugged. “He said he wished he could be as strong as me,” she explained. “Apparently he’s had some difficult times himself with his own daughter – did you know she was kidnapped a few years ago?”

“I heard about that,” nodded Katherine. “Scorpion rescued her.”

“Yes,” Veronica confirmed. “He blames himself. He thinks he was too focused on his business to pay her enough attention. He also told me about the time he almost got my daughter killed – and Walter and Cabe – because he tried to launch a banking tech product before it was ready!”

“Oh yeah, that was a close call,” replied Katherine as she remembered reading the details of that particular day. “I guess you both have a lot of regrets.”

“I don’t regret anything,” replied Veronica, much to Katherine’s surprise. “You may think that sounds odd but… I can’t afford to have regrets. I’ve had a good life… mostly… and I was successful at what I did. Like Richard, I guess. There are things I could have done differently, perhaps, but I don’t regret anything. Except, maybe…” she trailed off and took a bite out of her bagel.

“Paige?” offered Katherine, sympathetically.

Veronica nodded slowly.

“Hey,” said Katherine, placing a supportive hand on her arm. “If Richard can see past your… well, your past, then Paige will too. It’ll just take her a little more time, that’s all.” 

Veronica cleared her throat. She was determined not to allow her thoughts to become dark this morning, not after the buzz of her date last night. “I just wish I’d brought more clothes with me,” she said, forcing a smile onto her lips.

“Clothes?”

“I only packed a few things,” explained Veronica. “I certainly don’t have anything to wear to a fancy restaurant in Beverley Hills.”

“Then I guess we’re going on a girly shopping trip,” replied Katherine, with a smile. “Can’t have you looking anything less than your best for Richard!”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“Hell, yeah!” replied Katherine. “The pain meds are doing their thing and I really need a change of scenery. There doesn’t seem to be any news on what’s happening with this stupid spying nonsense, so I figure my dear colleagues at Homeland have already figured out I was framed and they’re just holding off telling me because they know the first thing I’ll do when I get back to work is fire their asses!”

“OK,” chuckled Veronica. Katherine was clearly a formidable boss. 

And she was swiftly becoming a good friend. 

For a moment Veronica forgot the real reason she’d come back to LA this time… then it came flooding back to her and she realised she needed to tell someone everything and soon. These last few days she’d been so wrapped up in making friends and going on dates – things that couldn’t have been further from her mind a few days ago - that the trouble she was in had momentarily slipped her mind.

She _had_ tried to talk to Walter about it – and Cabe - but failed. 

Of _course_ she couldn’t go to the mall with Katherine. What was she thinking? It wasn’t safe.  
“Actually, Katherine, there’s something I need to tell you,” she began.

“OK,” replied the other woman, but before Veronica could say another word, the door flew open and Sylvester and Ralph rushed into the garage.

Veronica leapt to her feet. “What on earth…?”

“Sorry… sorry,” panted Sylvester. “But this is important. Is Cabe here yet?”

“No, he and Allie have taken Rosa to see her mother,” replied Katherine. “But…”

“We found something last night,” Ralph began, moving the remains of his grandmother’s breakfast from the table and placing his tablet down in the space he’d cleared. “Financial transactions... a series of offshore accounts… monies going from Homeland to the government of the South Central Republic of the African Coast. It’s all heavily encrypted, but we managed to get through it. Took almost all night to beat the last few levels.”

“Just how much sleep did you get last night?” asked Veronica. Then she shot a frown in Sylvester’s direction. “You were supposed to be taking care of him, Sly!”

“Grandma!” exclaimed Ralph. “You sound like Mom! I can nap later. This is way more important than sleep. Sly says what we uncovered is enough for them to make an arrest.”

“Great!” beamed Katherine. “Then whoever really did this can start rotting in jail and I can get back to doing my job.”

Sly and Ralph exchanged a serious glance and suddenly Katherine’s face fell.

“What?” she prompted as she felt a lump forming in her throat. “What is it? Sylvester....?”

“All of the transactions… they… they… I…I…I…” stammered Sylvester.

“Spit it out!” urged Veronica. 

Sylvester took a deep breath. “There is certainly enough evidence here for Homeland to arrest someone and charge them with international espionage,” he confirmed. Then he looked Katherine squarely in the eye. “You.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _To be continued..._


	8. Tension and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Walter and Paige away the team begin to make progress, but not without a few arguments and Veronica's behaviour gives Toby cause for concern.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Apologies for keeping you all waiting for another month. Thank you for sticking with this story. I still feel as passionate about keeping Scorpion alive through fan fiction as I did when I started writing - I just wish I had more free time! I hope you enjoy this chapter, all comments welcome. Thank you kindly._

“No, we’re not calling Walter.”

Cabe’s firm words were barely heard over the noise of the rest of the team arguing. They’d been at it ever since Cabe, Toby and Happy had arrived at the garage. Sylvester was desperate to get Walter home as soon as possible, terrified that Cooper would be arrested before they could find the evidence they needed to prove she was being framed, but not everyone shared his opinion.

“I agree with Cabe,” said Veronica. “I don’t think my daughter would be too happy if we interrupt their mini vacation.”

“Walt and Paige are due back tomorrow,” Toby pointed out. “Let the lovebirds finish their dirty weekend.”

Cabe clapped his hands over Ralph’s ears and frowned at Toby.

“What?” shrugged Toby, innocently. “Y’think the genius teen doesn’t know his folks planned a whole weekend of rumbusticating?”

“Rum… what?” asked Cabe, screwing up his face.

Ralph shrugged off Cabe’s hands and spun round to face him with a frown aimed squarely at the older man. “It means having sex,” he explained in a matter of fact way. “It’s OK,” he added, when Cabe actually blushed a little. “They’re trying to have a baby. That’s how you get one, you don’t need to be a genius to know the basics of human reproduction, Cabe. They teach it at elementary school.”

Sylvester threw his hands in the air. “Can we get back to the emergency, please?” he begged. “Walter and Paige can… can… they can spend time alone together another day.”

“I’m with Sly,” said Happy, earning a disappointed look from her husband. “Right now we need them back here.”

“Thank you, Happy,” replied Sylvester, with a slightly smug look on his face. “Ralph and I kept hitting brick wall after brick wall last night.”

Cabe scratched his head. “I thought they were called firewalls?” he asked, with a puzzled expression on his face.

Ralph rolled his eyes. He loved Cabe dearly, but sometimes he found conversations with non-geniuses way more frustrating than they should be. 

“We got through all the encryption on the transactions,” continued Sylvester, tapping his fingers on the desk anxiously. “But we couldn’t trace the source. If there were three of us working on it...”

“Sly, relax,” urged Toby, interrupting him before his blood pressure rose any higher. “If anyone can do this it’s Ralphy-Boy and the Sly-Dog!”

“Toby’s right,” agreed Ralph. 

“Of course I am,” said Toby, with a wink. 

“My grandson, the genius,” smiled Veronica, proudly.

“We can do this, Sylvester!” Ralph raised his hand in Sylvester’s direction for a high five, but Sylvester just folded his arms across his chest and shook his head defiantly.

Instead, Toby reached across and slapped Ralph’s palm. “Don’t leave the kid hanging, Sly!” he exclaimed. 

“Thanks, Toby,” said Ralph with a grin.

Ralph knew that his mum and Walter really needed some time away. He had learnt to recognise when Paige’s old insecurities were starting to get the better of her and he’d seen it getting worse over the last couple of weeks. His grandmother showing up hadn’t helped matters, but he knew there was more to it than that. The last thing he wanted was to interrupt her much needed break and drag her and Walter back to reality unless it was a real emergency.

“Listen,” said Toby, his face becoming more serious. “Whoever is doing all of this has been sitting on this financial stuff for days. They’ve had plenty of opportunity to use it already, but they haven’t. That means they’re planning something big, much bigger than having Director Cooper thrown in jail. They need all the pieces of their plan to fall into place at the right time then they’ll drop their bomb. Um… figuratively speaking. I mean, there’s no evidence that the plan involves explosives of any kind. What I’m trying to say is, we have a little breathing space.”

“Here’s my plan,” said Cabe. “Sly, Ralph, you get back onto hacking those financial records. Toby, you and me are gonna go pick up Gannon. Give him a little shake, see what falls out.”

“Gannon’s just a Homeland tech nerd,” said Sylvester. “He’s not corrupt, he can’t be.”

“That’s the thing about corruption, pal,” said Toby. “Good people can get corrupted.”

Sylvester looked despondent. He knew he could be paranoid sometimes, but even he didn’t believe the whole of Homeland Security was somehow implicit in whatever was going on. He wished Kimberley was here so he could talk to her about… well, about anything that wasn’t this. He missed her so much. They’d only been together a few weeks and she wasn’t a million miles away, but she was far enough away for him to feel very alone. Their nightly video chats weren’t enough.

“Give her a call.” Toby’s words broke into his thoughts.

“Huh?” Sylvester reacted with a startled look. It still freaked him out slightly whenever Toby told him what he was thinking about before he’d even realised himself.

“Kimberley,” Toby clarified. “Give her a call. Maybe you could fly up there for a couple days? She’s not having an easy time of it with her Mom right now, she’d probably love to have you there for support.”

“Oh… um…” Sylvester stumbled over his words. He’d been so wrapped up in his own feelings of loneliness he’d momentarily forgotten what his girlfriend must be going through trying to take care of her sick mother. His face flushed as the guilt washed over him. “Sure… I mean, I might,” he finally responded.

Toby slapped a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“So we’re agreed about Gannon?” said Cabe, eager to get the conversation back on track and Toby nodded. “Great,” continued Cabe. “Let me make a couple calls and then we’ll go, I have an idea.”

“ _Good Doc, Bad Cop_?” suggested Toby with a grin. “It’s my favourite game. You’re so damn hot when you’re playing angry,” he added with a wink.

Cabe scowled at him. “I was thinking more like _Stupid and Irritating Doc, Good Cop_ , or _Moron Doc, Good Cop_ , or…”

“OK, OK, I get it,” Toby interrupted him. He clutched at his chest with both hands. “Your words hurt me right here, Cabe,” he added, stifling another grin.

Cabe rolled his eyes. “Just grab whatever you need and be ready in ten. Happy, we all agree the tracking device is the key to this whole thing, so maybe there’s something in those blueprints that can give us a clue.”

“I’ve been all over those specs already, Cabe,” replied Happy.

“I know,” agreed Cabe. “But we don’t have much else to go on, kid, so do it again. Think outside the box… or whatever that goddam expression is.”

Toby sniggered. “The Eighties called, Cabe,” he began. “They want their innovative metaphors back.”

“Shut it,” snapped Cabe. “Or my boot and your ass…”

“Stop!”

It was Cooper. Her sudden exclamation stunned everyone into silence.

“Please, I can’t take any more,” she added. Her voice was a little quieter this time, but the determination was still evident. “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I think I need to deal with this on my own now. I can’t risk pulling you guys into this.”

“I think we’re already in,” noted Cabe. 

Cooper sighed. “There are plenty of people I trust,” she said. “I’ll go to them for help. We can’t allow a few lowlifes to bring down Homeland. I’ll pack my things and get out of your way.”

“Oh no you don’t,” said Toby, firmly. “You’re still recovering from that time someone tried to kill you, or did you forget about that already?”

Cooper glared at him. “Of course I didn’t,” she retorted. “But I don’t need twenty four hour care anymore. I’m fine, I’m perfectly fine now.”

“Sure, fit as a fiddle,” replied Toby sarcastically. “Never better. In fact, if I were you, I’d be cartwheeling all the way back to your apartment. The apartment with the really basic security system that’s bound to stop whoever mowed you down the other day from trying their luck again.”

Cooper opened her mouth to snap back a retort, but she couldn’t find the words. Instead she just closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Except she’d forgotten that taking a deep breath _really_ hurt her fractured ribs. “Ow! Jesus!”

Toby looked at her. “Still going with ‘perfectly fine’?”

Cooper shuddered with the pain and Veronica reached over to squeeze her forearm supportively. “I’m… I’m…” she stammered, trying to get her breathing under control. 

“Hey,” said Toby, squatting down beside the chair she was sitting on. “Slowly,” he urged, all hint of sarcasm gone from his voice. “Take it easy.”

Cooper nodded and managed to regain her composure. “Maybe I’ll, er… maybe I’ll just stay here for another day or so.”

Toby nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” he said. 

“But I meant what I said before,” she continued. “I don’t want you guys getting yourself in over your heads for me. I’ll take what you’ve already discovered back to Homeland and let my people figure it out. This conspiracy can’t be as big as all that. We’re a government agency, for god’s sake!”

“And government agencies are always one hundred per cent trustworthy,” noted Happy, dryly, rolling her eyes as she spoke. “Besides, you’ve been suspended.”

“I have to do something,” replied Cooper. “I’m starting to lose my mind! This morning Veronica and I were talking about heading out to the mall. It seemed like such a great idea, just doing something normal again. I guess I hadn’t considered the danger. Someone out there wants me dead…” she trailed off and sighed again.

“We can go another time,” said Veronica with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I don’t need a new dress. I’ll call Richard and tell him our date’s off.”

“Why don’t you go the mall next week with Paige instead?” suggested Cooper. “You were really looking forward to going to Avec Nous.”

“Wait,” said Toby, spreading his hands out in front of him in surprise. “Our friendly neighbourhood multi-millionaire is taking you to Avec Nous?”

Veronica shook her head. “No… well, he was, but I’m cancelling it,” she replied. Her fingers twitched as she spoke. “It was a crazy idea. If Richard still wants a second date we’ll order in and eat right here in the garage, where it’s safe.”

“Safe?” repeated Toby, narrowing his eyes. It was an odd choice of words for Veronica. He watched her as she blinked rapidly for a second.

“For Katherine, safe for Katherine,” Veronica clarified. “Just in case anything happens.”

“One of us could stay here with her instead,” noted Toby. He was really fascinated by Veronica’s behaviour now. 

Paige’s mother wasn’t usually this easy to read, but right now something was off and she was an open book to him. Then suddenly it was as if she’d flicked a switch and she wasn’t giving him any markers at all. Toby began to wonder if he’d imagined what he’d just seen.

“I don’t need a babysitter!” exclaimed Cooper. “I’m sure I’ll be OK for one evening.”

“Right, enough of this,” snapped Veronica. “I think you need to rest, wouldn’t you agree, Doctor Curtis?” She looked Toby straight in the eye.

Toby couldn’t help but be impressed by her ability to completely block his abilities. “Um, absolutely,” he replied. “Rest.”

Veronica helped Katherine up the ramp to the loft while Cabe explained to Toby the details of his plan for getting Steve Gannon to talk. Sylvester and Ralph buried their heads back into the financial records they’d uncovered the previous night.

“What’s with you, Doc?” asked Happy after a while. She had begun to look at the specs for the tracking device again, but wasn’t sure what Cabe expected her to find. “I thought you and Cabe were gonna go put the thumb screws on that Homeland Teach Team guy?”

“We're just going to talk to him,” Toby corrected her. “He's not a suspect, but One Ninety Seven thinks he knows something so we're gonna ask him nicely if he wouldn't mind sharing because sharing is caring.”

“Hmmm,” responded Happy. “Well I hope Cabe's taking his thumb screws.”

“Ye of little faith,” huffed Toby.

“I still think we should get O’Brien back here ASAP,” said Happy.

“I respectfully disagree, Honeybunch. Sly and Ralph are on it, they’ll have this mysterious account information hacked before the end of the day, I’m sure of it.”

“Is he gonna ask Paige to marry him?”

“Huh?” Happy's question took Toby unexpectedly by surprise. “Sly, or Ralph?” he asked, risking a rebuke from his wife.

“Jerk,” responded Happy. “I mean is O'Brien gonna propose? Is that what this weekend is for, or are they just spending the whole time in the sack? Because if they are they can put it on hold until we’re not working a really important case and get their asses back here.”

“Woah!” exclaimed Toby. “Where did all this come from?”

“I just don't get it,” Happy tried to explain. “They got through all that crap before, they fixed all their issues - well, at least they're communicating right these days - and now they're talking about babies, so what's he waiting for? They need to get married like we did, or is he one of those commitment phobic morons?”

“Um, OK...” began Toby, perching on the corner of Happy's desk. “You think because we went the traditional marriage-then-kids route, Walt and Paige should follow our lead and get hitched?”

“Something like that,” admitted Happy. 

“But they're not us, Sunflower,” replied Toby. “One Ninety Seven has a very different idea of how to do relationships. You wanted to get married because you've longed to be part of a family your whole life.”

“I guess.”

“And because I'm perfect husband material, of course.”

“Hmmm.”

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t some kinda moral, or religious thing with you so… oh, I see what you're doing here,” continued Toby. “OK, just think about it for a second. Walt grew up in the perfect nuclear family. The kind of family you craved as a kid. Except his wasn’t the dream childhood it should’ve been, not for him anyway. He looks back at his folks and he sees a happily married couple, with two kids, living in the countryside – what more could a kid want? But his childhood sucked. So where’s the incentive for him to get married? The last thing Walt wants to do is replicate all his parents’ mistakes and recreate what he had back then with his own family. He needs to do it differently. And Paige, well her parents were married too and look how that turned out. I don’t think either of them are in any hurry.”

Happy’s brow furrowed as she thought about her husband’s words. Maybe he had a point? Her childhood in foster care had been hell on earth. She’d watched other kids get adopted by loving parents and her heart had ached each time she’d been rejected. Toby was right. All she’d ever wanted was a family and now she had her own with the man she loved and two – soon to be three - children. It was perfect for her. It was her dream come true. But it wasn’t Walter’s.

“I just want him to be happy,” she said quietly.

“I know,” replied Toby. “And he is. He’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him. He’s with the woman he loves and they’ve already proved how strong their love is, so he doesn’t need a piece of paper to demonstrate it to anyone and neither does Paige. Having said that, I figure one day the timing will be right for them and he’ll get down on one knee. In fact if I was a betting man… which I’m not, you know that… I’d lay money on it.”

Happy nodded. “I guess families are all different. There’s no right or wrong way to do it is there.”

Toby smiled and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. “Nope, there isn’t,” he agreed. Then he leaned over and kissed her baby bump. “But this way seems to working out pretty well for us.”

Happy smiled back at him. 

“Doc!” yelled Cabe from the other side of the garage. “Shake a tail feather!”

“On my way,” replied Toby. Then he kissed Happy again. “Do me a favour, will you? Go check on Katherine for me.”

“Me?” queried Happy. “I’m not the Doc around here.”

“Just go up to the loft and see she’s OK,” urged Toby. “Please? She and Veronica were talking up there for a while, but Veronica didn’t say much when she came down. After what she said before, I just need to know Cooper’s not a flight risk.”

Happy nodded. “OK,” she reluctantly agreed. “I’ll go talk to her. Just briefly.”

She watched as Toby ran over and jumped into Cabe’s truck where the older man had been impatiently waiting with the engine running. She deactivated the alarm and waited until the garage door had safely shut again before reactivating the security system. 

Happy would be glad when they could deactivate the stupid alarm permanently. She knew it was for Cooper’s safety, but she also knew any one of them could be in danger if someone did try to come after her again, including her children. She hadn’t felt this on edge since Mark Collins had been on the loose, determined to get his revenge on Walter and the team. At least with Collins they’d known who they were dealing with. It was the unknown in this situation that scared her. It could be anyone and they didn’t even really understand what their motive was.

“You OK?” Sylvester called out to her.

She spun round towards his desk. “What? Oh, yeah, I’m good, thanks, Sly,” she replied. 

She’d almost forgotten how good the young genius was at sensing when his friends were jittery. He was almost as good as Toby sometimes.

“Just coping with a few somersaults,” she added, running her hand over her bump and hoping it would be enough to stop Sylvester worrying about her. 

The baby had been kicking all morning and as much as she loved the feeling inside her, she was hoping Baby Quintis would quit his high intensity workout, for a while at least. 

“How you guys doing?” she asked.

“We’ve made some progress,” replied Sylvester. “Well, Ralph has.”

“We both have,” Ralph added.

“Great, good, great,” replied Happy. “I, er, I’m just gonna go check on Cooper.”

She took a deep breath and walked over to the ramp, half hoping Katherine was already asleep so she wouldn’t have to talk to her after all, but she wasn’t.

“Hey, Happy,” smiled Katherine as the younger woman appeared. “Look, I’m sorry about before,” she added before Happy had chance to say anything. “I’m just…” she trailed off and sighed. “I guess I’m not used to being stuck indoors feeling so helpless.”

“Kinda like being eight months pregnant,” noted Happy with a wry smile.

Katherine chuckled. “I guess so,” she said. “It’s been a long time since I was pregnant. My son’s twenty three now. He’s been living in Italy for the past year.”

“Italy’s nice,” replied Happy, trying to make small talk. She was going to kill Toby for making her do this. “So, um, can I get you anything?” she added, wondering if it would be easier if she just asked Cooper directly if she was OK to get it over and done with.

“Actually, would you mind passing me my phone?” asked Katherine. “It’s in my purse.” She pointed to the chair where she’d left it. “I’m going to call my son. Veronica persuaded me I should. I wasn’t going to bother him with all this, but she said I should let him know something’s going on even if I don’t give him all the gory details.”

“She’s probably right,” agreed Happy, passing her the phone.

“She was really insistent,” added Katherine, with a slight frown. “I’ve not seen Veronica be so serious before. I know she and Paige were estranged for some time, I guess she doesn’t want history to repeat itself. It’s different for me and Eddie, though. He’s just working over in Europe for a couple years, we keep in touch and we still get on just fine.”

“Glad to hear it,” replied Happy. She momentarily considered talking about her relationship with her father, but then thought better of it. Normal people might find it easy to share personal experiences with other people in order to help them deal with their own issues, but geniuses with low EQs definitely did not.

“I think Veronica has a lot of regrets,” continued Katherine. “She didn’t say as much, but she’s not going to let me get away with not calling my son. I guess when you get sick it puts a lot of things in perspective. Being told you have cancer must be awful. I still think she should sue for what they put her through.”

“Veronica has cancer?” exclaimed Happy. “But I thought…”

“Oh, god, no!” replied Katherine, quickly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t explain that very well. I thought you knew? Oh dear, I think I may have just put my foot in it. She doesn’t have cancer, but she was misdiagnosed to start with. They told her she only had a fifty per cent chance of surviving the rest of the year. Then they realised they’d got it all wrong. Now she’s on those new meds for her condition and she’s going to be fine, as long as she remembers to take them, of course. I think the whole thing hit her pretty hard, though.”

“Wow,” Happy took a moment to digest this new information. “No, I didn’t know about that. I guess she may have told Toby, or Paige, but…”

“She’s going to kill me,” said Katherine. “I didn’t realise she’d told me in confidence, I just assumed… anyway, please don’t say anything to anyone else.”

“Scout’s honour,” replied Happy, although she was definitely going to talk to Toby about it. Scout’s honour didn’t apply between spouses, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _To be continued..._


	9. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paige and Walter are enjoying their weekend away, while the rest of the team are dealing with family issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _It's taken me a while to adjust to being stuck at home and, disappointingly, it turns out I have even less time for writing than normal. I'm sorry I've kept you all waiting for this chapter. I will try as hard as I can to produce the next one soon. I hope everyone is staying safe and well and I hope you enjoy this update. All comments are very welcome, thank you kindly._

“Cabe... Cabe, that’s enough!”

Toby grabbed the older man by the shoulder and dragged him away. They’d been interviewing Steve Gannon for about half an hour now, but Toby had started to have some serious worries about Cabe. They'd agreed to play out a toned down version of their tried and trusted _Good Cop, Bad Cop_ routine – or as Toby liked to call it, _Good Doc, Bad Cop_ – to persuade Gannon to talk, but Cabe was taking things too far. 

Gannon wasn’t a necessarily a suspect, they had no reason to believe he was directly involved in the conspiracy, but he was hiding something, even Walter had sensed that the other day. 

He was hiding something because he was scared, Toby had deduced as much the moment they’d picked him up.

Toby had urged Cabe to go easy a couple of times, playing along with his _Good Doc_ role, but Cabe clearly had his own idea of how to proceed.

Toby glanced over his shoulder at Gannon. Definitely scared he noted, terrified even, given his body language.

“We'll be right back, pal,” Toby called out to him. “Have another doughnut.”

The doughnuts had been Toby’s suggestion to try to help Gannon relax and understand this wasn’t meant to be an interrogation. He began to wonder if he should have bought extra doughnuts for Cabe.

They'd taken him to an old cabin - Cabe's idea that Toby had gone along with so they wouldn’t be interrupted – but the dated surroundings had only served to create a rather unnerving atmosphere, reminiscent, Toby began to realise, of an old horror movie.

“Get off me, Doc,” hissed Cabe. “I was getting somewhere. He definitely knows what’s going on.”

“OK, two things,” replied Toby. “One, if by ‘getting somewhere' you mean getting close to making him cry then yes you were and two, sure he knows _something_ , but he's not the mastermind behind the whole thing! He's dyed in the wool Homeland, straight as they come.”

“If he's so goddam innocent in all this then we're on the same side,” Cabe pointed out. 

“I know that,” agreed Toby. “But he doesn’t. He's realised that some people he's known for a long time – people he trusts – are involved in some kind of huge corruption and he hasn’t got a clue how to handle it.”

“He can handle it by telling us what the hell's going on!” snapped Cabe.

Toby threw his hands in the air. “Fine!” he said. “Go yell at him some more, that’s a sure fire way of making a guy feel safe.”

Cabe sighed. “I was just playing the game,” he insisted. “The _Bad Cop's_ not supposed to play nice.”

“Hey, just listen to me for a second,” said Toby, calming the tone of his voice. “I get it, I do. Homeland is who _you_ are too and knowing that a piece of it is dirty gets to you. Hits you right here.” Toby slapped the back of his hand gently against the centre of Cabe’s chest. 

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” dismissed Cabe.

Toby sighed and nodded. Of course Cabe was going to try to keep up his tough guy image, but Toby could see right through it.

“Sure you don’t,” he replied sarcastically, with a shrug of his shoulders. “Homeland could be slipperier than an eel on an ice rink, right down to the very core and you wouldn’t care less, right? It wouldn’t eat you away inside, knowing that the very institution that’s been your life since you left the Marines was corrupt.”

Cabe scowled at him, his nostrils flaring as he desperately tried to control his breathing. “I just wanna get to the truth. I’ll go easy on Gannon, if it shuts you up.”

Toby grinned. “Great!” he exclaimed. “And we’ll talk more about this later.”

Cabe stepped closer to him, until their faces were inches apart. Toby let out an almost silent whimper and Cabe couldn’t help the tiny grin of satisfaction that danced at the corners of his lips. “I don’t think there’s any more to talk about, Doc,” he began. “Do you?”

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

“So they threatened his family?” Allie put down her book and sat up a little straighter as she took in the information Cabe had just relayed to her about Steve Gannon.

The TV was on in the background, but neither of them were paying any attention to the wildlife documentary on the screen. Rosa had already gone to bed. She’d been quiet all evening, but had insisted she was fine, just tired. Neither Cabe, nor Allie really believed her, but they hadn’t wanted to upset her so they hadn’t pushed the issue.

“Indirectly,” Cabe replied to Allie’s question. “The guy really doesn’t know what’s going on, but he thinks they think he does. He’s had a couple strange emails and some weird things happen.”

“No wonder he’s been acting so oddly,” noted Allie. She’d met Steve once at a Homeland Christmas party and he’d seemed like a decent guy. It saddened her to think he’d somehow become mixed up in all of this.

“Yeah,” agreed Cabe. “I, er…” he trailed off for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I came down kinda hard on him this morning,” he finally admitted. “I just wanted to know what was going on, that’s all.”

Allie raised her eyebrows questioningly. “How hard?”

Cabe shrugged. “Not as hard as I would’ve done if Toby hadn’t have been there,” he replied, looking away for a moment. “The Doc thinks this is all getting to me. He figures I hate the idea that there’s any kinda corruption at Homeland and… well, I guess I may have taken out my anger on Gannon.”

Allie pressed her lips together. “I think Toby’s right.” 

Cabe had been tense ever since the trouble had started, she acknowledged to herself. She knew how much Homeland and its core values meant to him and she realised how difficult it must be for him to know there were people who didn’t feel the same way.

Cabe shrugged again. “Maybe.”

Before Allie could offer any words of comfort, Rosa appeared in the doorway. She was clutching her teddy bear in one hand and an empty glass in the other.

“Hey,” said Allie, getting to her feet. “What’re you doing out of bed?”

“I… I came to get water,” replied the little girl in a quiet voice. “I don’t feel too good.”

“Oh no,” said Allie and she slowly led Rosa towards the sofa as Cabe took the empty glass from her. “What is it?” she asked, pressing the back of her hand against Rosa’s forehead. She gasped a little when she felt the heat. “I think you have a fever. Cabe, she has a fever.” Allie raised her voice slightly so Cabe could hear her in the kitchen.

“It’s my throat,” replied Rosa. “It hurts. And my ear too.” She covered her right ear with her hand as she spoke. 

“Here,” said Cabe, returning with her glass now filled with water. “Sip this,” he continued, sitting himself down next to her. He glanced at Allie, but her face was etched with worry.

“We have Tylenol, the kids’ one,” she said. “My sister left it here. I’ll get you some.” She leapt up and ran to the kitchen, quickly returning with the medicine and a spoon and before Rosa had time to object she’d swallowed two spoonfuls of the sticky liquid.

Cabe flashed her a supportive smile as she gulped down more of her water to take away the taste. “Head back to bed, sweetheart,” he said. “And I’ll come read you a story.”

“I should call the doctor,” said Allie after Rosa had left the room, but instead of passing her phone as she had hoped, Cabe just laughed. “What?” asked Allie, indignantly.

“Relax,” urged Cabe, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Kids get sick all the time, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“At least let me call Toby for advice,” begged Allie.

“She’ll be fine by the morning,” replied Cabe. “Trust me.”

Allie let out a slow sigh. She suddenly felt completely out of her depth. Aside from babysitting her sister’s children on a handful of occasions, she had zero experience of parenting. Rosa had been no trouble at all since her arrival, but now Allie was overcome with worry and all because she had a slight fever. She looked up at Cabe and realised she had to do exactly what he’d asked her to do.

She had to trust him. 

Cabe was an expert parent. It may have been almost three decades since he’d had a ten year old of his own to take care of, but he knew exactly what he was doing and suddenly she realised she loved him even more because of it.

“OK,” she said, eventually. “I’m sorry, this is all new to me.”

Cabe chuckled and kissed her forehead. “I know,” he replied. “Now, I promised the kid a story. I won’t be long, I’ll see you in bed.”

Allie matched his kiss with one of equal tenderness on his cheek. “Thank you,” she replied. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

“I can’t believe it’s our last night at this wonderful hotel.” Paige brushed her hair, staring at her reflection in the antique mirror and wishing they could stay another night… or perhaps a week. “Thank you so much for this weekend, Walter.”

Walter walked up behind her and took the brush from her hand, placing it down on the dressing table. “Your hair is more susceptible to breakage when it’s wet,” he said. “Proteins form weaker bonds in wet hair than they do when it’s dry. You should use a wide tooth comb instead.”

“I think I read that somewhere once,” replied Paige. Walter’s ability to turn everyday things into a science lesson used to drive her crazy, until she realised she loved everything about him, even the irritating things.

Walter’s face fell into a puzzled frown. “Then why are you using a brush?”

Paige shrugged. “I don’t know, I just prefer it. I won’t do it again, OK?” 

Walter slumped down onto the bed. “I… I wasn’t scolding you,” he said.

Paige laughed and went to join him on the bed. “I know, silly,” she said. She ran her hand over the expensive bedding, making a mental note to treat herself to a similar set of linens when they got home. “I meant what I said,” she continued. “Thank you for this weekend. It was just what I needed and I don’t just mean… y’know…” she paused and winked.

Walter smiled at her. “You mean the intimacy?” 

Paige nodded. “Yes, the intimacy,” she confirmed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved every minute of everything about this weekend, but I can’t tell you how much I needed to get away from, well, I guess from everything else in my life right now. Everything that isn’t you and me. Take that waterfall we went to this afternoon, it was beautiful. Just sitting there with you, watching the water tumble over the rocks and even knowing you were probably calculating the speed of the water…”

“I was.”

Paige giggled. “What I mean is, I loved how I was able to switch off and focus completely on the water. I wasn’t thinking about anything else. I wasn’t worrying about money, about Ralph’s future, or a case, or… or about why my Mom’s been acting so weird…”

“You worry about Ralph’s future?”

“Sometimes,” admitted Paige. “Less now than I used to, I guess, but the point is today I didn’t even think about any of those things. All I thought about was being there with you.”

“I’m glad I could help you relax,” said Walter. He ran his hand between her shoulder blades and Paige shuddered. “Oh, sorry,” he said, withdrawing his hand quickly.

“It’s OK,” Paige reassured him. “Please… do that again. I think I’m just feeling extra… um… sensual right now. Being alone with you this weekend has been… it’s been wonderful, Walter and now I guess my body doesn’t want it to end any more than my heart does, or my head, so everything… I mean every time you touch me, or kiss me, it just feels like it’s magnified a hundred times. Does that make any sense?”

“I’m not sure that it does,” Walter answered honestly and he leaned in and captured her lips in a tender kiss. “I assume it means you want me to do more of this?” he added and his fingers danced delicately down her spine. 

Paige shuddered again and drew her lower lip in between her teeth. “I guess I’m done relaxing and I’m ready for something a little more energetic,” she explained. “We have one more night alone, let’s make the most of it.”

Walter’s hand quickly wandered from her back down to her hip and he kissed her again, more passionately this time. “I intend to,” he whispered and they fell backwards onto the pillows in a tangle of arms and legs.

xXxXxXxXx

“That’s right! It’s a cat!” Toby picked up another giant flashcard and handed it to Caitlin. “Good girl. What about this one?”

Happy smiled as she watched Toby and Caitlin together. Their daughter had woken up just as they were ready to get into bed themselves – a pattern that was starting to become far too regular for Happy’s liking. 

Caitlin’s nightmare fuelled cries broke Happy’s heart every time – and it was a wonder that Stella was able to sleep through it - so for the last few nights Toby had been developing a strategy using flashcards he hoped would help the little girl. Happy was pinning her hopes on her genius husband solving the problem soon because she was exhausted and the baby wasn’t even born yet. The prospect of coping with a newborn and Caitlin’s messed up routine was too much to contemplate right now.

“Yes, it’s a tree! Well done.”

Caitlin gently picked up another flashcards and smiled at Toby as he praised her. It looked giant in her little hand, but she clutched it tightly and stared at the picture. Toby had decided to use the flashcards not only to help the girls learn simple words, but also to help them express their emotions. 

Stella wore her heart on her sleeve most of the time and it was usually obvious how she was feeling, even to Happy. You certainly didn’t need to be a behaviourist to understand what was going on inside her head - she laughed boisterously, she cried agonisingly, she threw her toys in frustration and she clung tightly to Happy or Toby if she was scared - but Caitlin was different and this was where Toby’s plan came into play.

Amongst the simple pictures of cats and trees were children’s faces and each one had a different expression. To start with Toby had introduced ‘sad’ and ‘happy’ and Caitlin had picked up these concepts quickly enough, using the words to explain how she was feeling, so now they’d moved onto more complex emotions and Toby hoped using this method he would be able to unravel whatever it was that was causing Caitlin’s recurring nightmares and allow him to counsel her through the ordeal.

“Good girl,” smiled Toby as Caitlin correctly identified three more flashcards.

The twins’ development was slightly delayed – Caitlin’s seemingly more than Stella’s at this stage – but both girls were chatty in their own ways and their vocabularies were improving daily. Toby assured Happy that they would quickly catch up with other children their age and it was just the trauma of losing their biological parents and their subsequent time in foster care that had caused their temporary issues. Caitlin seemed to be responding well to Toby’s therapy so Happy wasn’t worried at all. 

She was, however, completely exhausted.

“She looks real tired now,” Happy pointed out. “Do you wanna go back to bed, Caitlin?” she asked her daughter, somewhat optimistically.

Caitlin shook her head and Happy sighed. 

“Just give me another few minutes,” Toby said. “She’s doing great tonight. She’s really finding her voice, it’s amazing. She’s so smart, they both are.”

Happy nodded. She was delighted, of course, that Toby felt he was making progress with Caitlin, but she was heavily pregnant and really needed to sleep and before that happened she really needed to talk to Toby about Veronica. It had been such a crazy afternoon at the garage she hadn’t had time to mention what Cooper had told her that morning about Veronica’s misdiagnosis.

“If I talk to you will it be too distracting for Caitlin?” asked Happy. “It’s kinda important and I don’t know how much longer I can keep my eyes open.”

“Keep your voice low,” replied Toby. “The sound should help to soothe her.” Then he turned back to Caitlin. “Hey, that’s right! It’s a dog.”

Caitlin continued to identify the flashcards as Happy told him everything she’d found out from Cooper. 

“So, are you gonna tell Paige?” she asked when she’d finished.

“I don’t know?” replied Toby, letting out a slow breath. “It would be better coming from Veronica, but that’ll be easier said than done. If I tell Paige her mom’s keeping secrets from her she’ll go… well, we both know how much Paige hates secrets and I just don’t know if she’s in the right frame of mind to deal with something like this right now, especially not if O’Brien managed to put a bun in her oven this weekend.”

“Hell, no. We sure don’t want a hormonal Paige doing something really dumb,” noted Happy, shaking her head. “But won’t she be happier if she knows why Veronica’s been acting so weird?”

Toby shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“You’re supposed to be the expert on what goes on in her head, Doc!” exclaimed Happy, but she immediately clasped her hand over her mouth when Caitlin spun round and stared at her. 

“Hey, it’s OK,” said Toby in a gentle voice, stroking Caitlin’s hair. “Mommy was just trying to belittle Daddy to make herself feel superior.”

“Ignore Daddy,” retorted Happy, supressing a grin. “He’s just embarrassed ‘coz he doesn’t know what to do about Auntie Paige. Maybe he should try making a decision chart?”

This time Toby looked directly at his wife. “Not funny,” he replied. “You’re not talking to One Ninety Seven here. I just don’t want to risk Paige going off the rails over this. I used to think Walt’s brain was the only one I couldn’t understand, but then I realised Paige’s brain is far more complex. I’m gonna write a paper about the pair of them one day.” 

“Quit thinking about your academic career for a second, Doc,” urged Happy. “We need to figure this out before the waitress and O’Brien get back tomorrow.”

“I know,” nodded Toby. “Hey, what’s this one?” he added, handing another flashcard to Caitlin.

“If we tell Paige about it she’ll go postal at Veronica,” noted Happy. “But if we wait for Veronica to tell her – which she might never do - and Paige finds out we already know then she’ll go postal at us.”

“You make a good point, Lovebug,” replied Toby. “Which is why I’m going to sleep on it and decide in the morning.” 

“Sleep sounds like a great idea,” said Happy, she gently lifted Caitlin into her arms. “What d’ya think? Ready for some sleep? Y’know, if Stella wakes up and you’re not in your bed she might be sad.” Happy paused and reached across to pick up the ‘sad face’ flashcard. “Sad,” she repeated, showing it to Caitlin. “We don’t want to make your sister sad, right?”

“Sad,” repeated Caitlin, pensively.

“Come on, little one,” said Toby. “Let’s go find Stella. Nothing bad will happen, I promise, but if you get scared again you just call out and Daddy’ll be right there.”

Nightmares were normal for children, Happy knew that. She could vividly remember many times waking up alone, her hair plastered to her face with sweat, trembling with fear and she hated to think her little girl was going through the same thing almost every night. The only difference was Happy had never had anyone to comfort her through those terrifying moments. Suddenly she felt bad for wanting to sleep. If Caitlin – or Stella, or the new baby – ever needed her in the night to make them feel safe then she would happily forgo sleep forever, she promised silently. 

“Now say nighty-night to Mommy,” urged Toby.

“Nighty… Mommy… nighty… baby,” replied Caitlin and she blew kisses in the cute, cumbersome way that only a toddler can.

Happy’s heart nearly melted with the rush of emotion she felt at hearing those words. “Night night, kiddo,” she replied, glancing at Toby who appeared to be as overwhelmed as she was. “We have the best family,” she said.

Toby nodded. “Sure do,” he said beaming with joy. He kissed Caitlin tenderly on the top of her head, all his worries about Paige momentarily forgotten about. “Sure do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _To be continued..._


End file.
